Roosevelt, Utah

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Roosevelt, Utah
settlement_type = City
nickname =
motto =

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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location of Roosevelt, Utah


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Utah
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Duchesne

government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
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established_date =

unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 13.6
area_land_km2 = 13.6
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 5.3
area_land_sq_mi = 5.3
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 4299
population_density_km2 = 316.1
population_density_sq_mi = 818.6

timezone = Mountain (MST)
utc_offset = -7
timezone_DST = MDT
utc_offset_DST = -6
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 1553
elevation_ft = 5095
latd = 40 |latm = 17 |lats = 55 |latNS = N
longd = 109 |longm = 59 |longs = 39 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 84066
area_code = 435
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 49-64670GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1431989GR|3
website =
footnotes =

Roosevelt is a city in Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 4,299 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Roosevelt is located at coor dms|40|17|55|N|109|59|39|W|city (40.298721, -109.994035)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 4,299 people, 1,380 households, and 1,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 818.6 people per square mile (316.2/km²). There were 1,566 housing units at an average density of 298.2/sq mi (115.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.58% White American, 0.19% Black or African American, 8.14% Native American, 0.21% Asian American, none Pacific Islander American, 1.74% from other races, and 3.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.88% of the population.

There were 1,380 households out of which 51.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.6% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.12 and the average family size was 3.51.

In the city the population was spread out with 39.5% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 16.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,190, and the median income for a family was $32,328. Males had a median income of $32,117 versus $18,043 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,945. About 19.2% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.7% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

In 1905, by an act of Congress, the unallotted land of the Ute Indian reservation was opened to homesteading. Several thousand hopeful twentieth-century pioneers congregated in Provo and Grand Junction with the hope of successfully drawing lots for a homestead in a fertile region of the soon-to-be-opened lands. Throughout the fall and winter of 1905-06 the settlers came to the Uinta Basin. The town of Roosevelt was founded in early 1906 when Ed Harmston turned his homestead claim into a townsite and laid out plots. His wife named the prospective town in honor of the president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Within a short time a store, a post office, and the Dry Gulch Irrigation Company were in business in the new town. In 1907, the Harmstons donated two acres of ground for the town's citizens to build a school. The first class had about fifteen pupils, who had to provide books from their homes. Roosevelt soon became the economic center for the area, eclipsing Myton and Duchesne.

Roosevelt is situated on U.S. Route 40 in the northeast corner of the state, south of the Uinta Mountains, at an elevation of 5,250 feet. The town was incorporated at a mass meeting of forty-four citizens on 21 February 1913. From 1906 to 1914 Roosevelt was in Wasatch County, but in 1914 Duchesne County was formed from part of Wasatch County, and, as the largest town in the county, Roosevelt anticipated becoming the county seat. However, when the total county-wide vote came in, the seat went to Duchesne. Roosevelt is today home to approximately 3,500 people but serves as the business center for several times that number from the many small towns and farming areas that surround the town. Roosevelt has become the region's educational center with Union High School, Uintah Basin Applied Technology College, and Utah State University's Uintah Basin Education Center all located there. Roosevelt is also home of the only hospital in the county, Uintah Basin Medical Center. The economy of Roosevelt is based on agriculture and the oil industry.

The UBIC (Uintah Basin Industrial Convention) is Roosevelt's annual celebration. What started in the early part of the century as a yearly display of the latest in farming and industrial technology has developed into a yearly gala complete with parade, talent show, concerts, and dances.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the dominant religious denomination in Roosevelt, with three stakes centered in town; but the community also boasts Roman Catholic, Christian Assembly of God, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other smaller denomination congregations. Located near the Uintah/Ouray Indian Reservation headquarters of Fort Duchesne, Roosevelt is a multicultural and polyethnic community, with Caucasians and Native Americans being the most numerous.

Industry

Roosevelt is located in the area of vast oil reserves spanning the north-east corner of Utah and extending into western Colorado. The town "booms" whenever oil prices go up and falls on harder times when oil prices decrease.

The city used to have an oil refinery, "Plateau", named for the geographic location of the area, the Colorado Plateau. The oil from this area is known as "Uinta Basin Black Wax Crude" and has to be refined differently than most types of oil. Those in the oil business and land owners who profit from oil shares indicated during the high oil prices of 2005-2006 that refineries were cutting their profits by limiting the amount of Uinta Basin Black Wax they would refine.

Various types of farming, including beef cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, honey and hay, are prevalent in the outlaying areas around town.

Famous Residents

*Laraine Day - actress
*David Noble - inventor of the floppy disk, has a summer home outside of Roosevelt
* [http://www.charleyjenkins.com Charley Jenkins] - Country singer and 2008 Nashville Star contestant

Fun Facts

Roosevelt was originally called "Dry Gulch City" due to the gulch in the area which only carries water during the early spring runoff season.

Legend is that the wife of a landowner that laid out the city insisted the town be named after Theodore Roosevelt, and the name was changed when the city was officially founded in 1906.

Union High School is on the east end of town and straddles the borders of Duchesne County and Uintah County, thus the name "Union". The mascot is the Cougar and the school colors are black and gold.

Roosevelt is situated in lands designated as the Ute Indian Reservation and there are many Pow-Wows and Indian Ceremonies held throughout the summer and falls months.

ee also

*High Uintas Wilderness

References

External links

* [http://www.ubstandard.com The Uintah Basin Standard]