Alta, Utah

Alta, Utah
—  Town  —
Location of Alta, Utah
Location of Utah in the United States
Coordinates: 40°34′51″N 111°38′14″W / 40.58083°N 111.63722°W / 40.58083; -111.63722Coordinates: 40°34′51″N 111°38′14″W / 40.58083°N 111.63722°W / 40.58083; -111.63722
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Salt Lake
Settled	1865
Incorporated	1970
Named for	Spanish for 'high'
Area
• Total	4.1 sq mi (10.5 km2)
• Land	4.1 sq mi (10.5 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	8,560 ft (2,610 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	383
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	84092
Area code(s)	385, 801
FIPS code	49-00650[1]
GNIS feature ID	1437483[2]
Website	www.townofalta.com

Alta is a town in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 383 at the 2010 census, a slight increase from the 2000 figure of 370.

Alta is also a ski resort that has 500,000 visitors a year. It is known for its powder skiing and its refusal to allow snowboarding.

History

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Alta was founded about 1865 to house miners from the Emma mine, the Flagstaff mine, and other silver mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Sensationally rich silver ore in the Emma mine enabled its owners to sell the mine at an inflated price to British investors in 1871.^[3] The subsequent exhaustion of the Emma ore body led to the recall of the American ambassador to Great Britain, who was a director of the company, and Congressional hearings in Washington.^[4]

An 1878 fire and a 1885 avalanche destroyed most of the original mining town, though some mining activity persisted into the 20th century. By the 1930s, only one resident, George Watson, remained in the town. Facing back taxes on mining claims he owned, Watson donated much of the land in Alta to the U.S. Forest Service. Watson stipulated that the Forest Service use the land to construct a ski area. In 1935, Norwegian skiing legend Alf Engen was hired to help develop the area, and Alta opened its first ski lift in 1938.

Today, Alta is a small town, centered around the Alta Ski Area.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.1 square miles (10.5 km²), of which, 4.1 square miles (10.5 km²) of it is land and 0.25% is water.

At 8,950 feet (2,730 m), Alta is one of the highest cities in Utah, and one of the highest in America.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 386 people in 156 households in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 93 percent white and 4 percent Hispanic or Latino.

The population was 67 percent male and 33 percent female. The population was 4.7 percent under the age of 18 and 2.6 percent was 65 or older.

See also

• Twister (limber pine) - located near Alta

References

External links

• Town Of Alta Official Website
• Alta Ski Area Official Website
• Alta Community Enrichment, the Alta Arts Council
• Wild old Bunch
• AltaCam Ski Forum
• Alta Visitors Bureau

	Millcreek Holladay	Emigration Canyon	Coalville
	Cottonwood Heights Sandy		Park City
		Alta
	Draper Alpine Cedar Hills Pleasant Grove	Lindon, Orem	Midway

v t e Municipalities and communities of Salt Lake County, Utah, United States County seat: Salt Lake City Cities Bluffdale Cottonwood Heights Draper Herriman Holladay Midvale Murray Riverton Salt Lake City Sandy South Jordan South Salt Lake Taylorsville West Jordan West Valley City Town Alta Townships Copperton Emigration Canyon Kearns Magna Millcreek CDPs Canyon Rim Copperton East Millcreek Emigration Canyon Granite Kearns Magna Millcreek Mount Olympus White City Unincorporated community Snowbird Ghost towns Bingham Canyon Lark