WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
VIRGIN, UTAH
(formerly Pocketville and Virgen City)
LOCATION
Virgin, UT 84779Along the Virgin River, 20 miles west of Zion National Park. Currently on State Route 9.
HISTORY
The first Europeans to settle in what is now Virgin, came in 1857.Virgin was called Pocketville by the Indians because it is situated in a low spot or pocket on the bank of the Virgin River. The early pioneers called it Virgen City to distinguish in from the Rio Virgen.
Nephi Johnson, Anthony Stratton, and Andrew J. Workman surveyed the Virgin City town site with homemade instruments in 1866.
Virgin was made a branch of the Toquerville Ward about 1860, with Nephi Johnson as Presiding Elder and with Seth Johnson and George Bryant Gardner as assistants. In 1866, the Virgin Ward was formed with John Parker as Bishop and with Nephi Johnson and George Isom Sr. as clerk.
Brigham Young organized the United Order in Virgin on March 4, 1871. Membership in the order was optional. It was discontinued in November 1875.
Population
336 in 1864
HISTORIC SITES
Virgin HomesPHOTOS
Photos on the web:Photo of an oil field in Virgin
Photo of a historical marker along the Virgin River
Photo of Alice Parker Isom (1848-1924), a pioneer who settled in Virgin and Hurricane
Jim Harlan's Zion Event Photos Collection
REFERENCES
Virgin Town ClerkMonica Bowcutt
(435)635-4695 office
(435)635-0265 fax
clerk@virgin.utah.gov
Virgin Town Historian
Lenny Wilcox Brinkerhoff
lenny@infowest.com
Official website of the Town of Virgin
Wikipedia article about Virgin
A history of Virgin
" The First Settlers of Virgin City, Utah" as recalled by James Jepson, Jr. and recorded by his daughter, Lucy J. B. Isom, in January 1947; revised and edited by Lenny Wilcox Brinkerhoff.
Washington County Chapter, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, " Under Dixie Sun".
1950 with 1978 Supplement.
Pages 267-279, Supplement Page 49.
Utah Tombstone Project - Virgin City
List of graves in the Virgin Cemetery
Utah State History - Virgin Cemetery
Utah State History - List of Burials in the Virgin Cemetery Search "Cemetery: Virgin Cemetery, Washington County"
Virgin, Duncan's Retreat, Corrals Blurb
Handout at the 3/25/2023 WCHS Field Trip
By Richard R. Kohler, March 25, 2023