Wales, Utah
| Wales, Utah | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Location in Sanpete County and the state of Utah. |
|
| Coordinates: 39°29′10″N 111°38′10″W / 39.48611°N 111.63611°WCoordinates: 39°29′10″N 111°38′10″W / 39.48611°N 111.63611°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Sanpete |
| Founded | 1859 |
| Named for | Wales, the ancestral land of a large share of the early settlers |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) |
| • Land | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 5,627 ft (1,715 m) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 297 |
| • Density | 731.4/sq mi (282.4/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 84667 |
| Area code(s) | 435 |
| FIPS code | 49-80860 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1446954 |
Wales is a town in Sanpete County, Utah, United States. The population was 219 at the 2000 census. The town is governed by a mayor and several council members. As of December 2008, Wales had no stores, gas stations nor stop lights. It does have a park, fire station, library and cemetery.
The small mining town of Wales was named for the country of the immigrants that were sent there by Brigham Young in 1854 to mine the "rock that burns". A Native American named Tabison, a prominent Ute, had shown Young, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a small sample. Young recognized it as coal and asked if any of his group knew how to mine the coal. The Welsh immigrants, having experience with coal mining in the U.K., were sent to the west side hills to set up mines.
The community's original name was Coal Bed, but was changed to Wales in 1857. There once was a railroad depot and it was an important and busy mining center. The mines and train were abandoned when more productive mines were discovered in Scofield, Utah. Many of the present residents are descendants of the original miners.
Wales lies on the west side of the Sanpete Valley, at the foot of the Sanpitch Mountains.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²), all of it land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 219 people, 64 households, and 54 families residing in the town. The population density was 731.4 people per square mile (281.9/km²). There were 84 housing units at an average density of 280.5 per square mile (108.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.26% White, 0.46% Pacific Islander, 1.83% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.31% of the population.
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