Monticello - Utah
Posted by: 94RedRover
N 37° 52.368 W 109° 20.575
12S E 645743 N 4192996
Heading south on 191, we passed through Monticello, named after Thomas Jefferson's famous Virginia home.
Waymark Code: WM60YA
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2009
Views: 5
"MONTICELLO, 88.4 m. (7,066 alt., 665 pop.), seat of San Juan County, is a cool green town on the east slope of the Abajot Mountains. It was named for Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, but the name is pronounced "mon-ti-SELL-o" instead of "mon-ti-CHELL-o" as in the East. Temperatures here rarely reach 90 degrees - the highest ever recorded was 98; the lowest, 21 below zero. Hot days are followed by cold nights, and the temperature may drop as much as 50 degrees after sunset. The growing season is short - one year it was only 78 days. The community derives its livelihood principally from sheep and cattle."
--- Utah. A Guide to the State, 1941
Monticello was founded in 1887, by five families "called" here by the Mormon Church. In 1892, the town became part of the area "gold rush" which resulted in a short-lived boom.
Things have grown quite a bit in this town since the series was written. Now with anything a typical American small town would have, Monticello is still a jewel in the canyons.