La Verkin lies on the north banks of the Virgin River opposite
Hurricane, and three miles south of Toquerville. The Zion National
Park-Grand Canyon Highway (State Highway 9) bisects the town, while
the La Verkin Hot Mineral Springs, a popular bathing resort, is
located in the Rio Virgin Canyon immediately south of the
community. Rich farmlands make up La Verkin bench between La Verkin
Creek on the west and the Hurricane Fault on the east.
The origin of the name is somewhat confusing. In a letter from
John Steele and J.C.L. Smith to the Deseret News, dated 26 June
1852, La Verkin Creek is referred to as the "Leiver Skin." Perhaps
it originally was "Beaver Skin"; it would have been easy for
pioneer writers to transpose an "L" for a "B." Others, however, say
that La Verkin is a corruption of the Spanish "La Virgen,"
referring to the nearby Virgin River. Whatever the source of
origin, early Washington County Court records also list the creek
as "Leiversking." In time it was shortened to La Verkin.
The La Verkin bench was observed by Erastus Snow when his party
explored the Virgin River Valley from Zion Canyon to Santa Clara
during the fall of 1861. They were attempting to locate lands
suitable for the Cotton Mission farmers. Snow opined that Virgin
River water could be conveyed to the bench land, however, the
others felt that the labor involved would be too expensive.
Almost thirty years later, Thomas Judd and Thomas P. Cottam had
a survey made and started work on a canal. In June 1889 the La
Verkin Fruit and Nursery Company was incorporated with a capital
stock of $25,000.00. Its objectives were to establish nursery
orchards and vineyards, to manufacture wine and liquor, and to
promote fruit raising, stock raising, and general farming.
Work on the canal and tunnel was most difficult; a major part of
the canal was made through the solid rock limestone of the
precipitous cliff wall, other portions through talus slides that
had broken off the limestone ledges above. A tunnel through the
Kaibab limestone escarpment east of the bench was eight hundred
feet in length. It was worked on from both sides, and when the two
crews met, the sections fitted together almost perfectly. A row of
lighted candles from each end was used as a mark to keep the lines
straight as the men on both sides of the ridge drove toward the
center. They built a dam two miles up the river from the place
where the tunnel penetrated the mountain. Water was turned into the
ditch in April 1891.
Leaks in the canal where it coursed through gypsum formations
plagued the project. When cement became available, the worst of the
leaking places in the canal were cemented, and the canal gave less
trouble.
It wasn't until 1898 that a townsite was surveyed and brothers
Joseph and Henry Gubler as well as James Pectol came to La Verkin
with their families. The town flourished and gradually grew into an
area of fruit production, turkey growing, and dairying.
The Southern Utah Power Company agreed to enlarge and cement the
canal from the west entrance of the tunnel to the dam in exchange
for the right to carry water in the canal to its power plant in the
Virgin River canyon west of La Verkin. Later, in the 1980s, the
open ditches in La Verkin were converted to a closed pressurized
system.
Bubbling up beneath the ledges of the point where the Virgin
River breaks through the Hurricane Fault are the warm mineral
waters of the La Verkin sulfur springs. Fathers Dominguez and
Escalante probably visited the sulfur springs, since they named the
stream the "Rio Sulfureo." The Indians regarded the hot springs as
sacred and healing spaces, available to friend or enemy. The
grounds were preserved as a peaceful sanctuary for everyone. The
springs became one of the first recreation spots for the early
Mormon pioneers. They dammed up the springs sufficiently that
people could bathe. During the years of canal building, the waters
soothed and comforted the men who swung the picks and pushed the
wheelbarrows.
Early settlers baptized their children in the warm waters at
this point of the river. Sheep men dammed off the lower end of the
springs for a dipping vat before the days of sheep-dip. The mineral
water appeared to be good for the scabies. Washington County built
a wooden bridge across the river below the springs, but floods
washed it away. A second bridge was also destroyed. In 1916 the
county replaced the wooden bridge with a steel one, and later a
high arched span was built a short distance downstream.
Today the springs have been developed into an attractive "spa"
with seven comfortable little pools in the grotto area. A swimming
pool, dressing rooms, and restrooms are provided and there is a bed
and breakfast facility for families on vacation.
For many years La Verkin town was a part of Toquerville
precinct. It later came under county jurisdiction with its own
justice of the peace and constable. In November 1927 residents and
voters petitioned the Washington County Commission to constitute
the town as a corporate body--an action that was granted that same
year.
La Verkin presently is a growing, thriving community with paved
streets, modern sewage system, an excellent elementary school, many
beautiful new homes, and an expanding business section--all located
in a magnificent scenic area.