The Coalville Ledge is little known outside the county seat, with a heritage going back thousands of years. But today it's threatened by modern graffiti.
Last week, organizers of the Summit County Fair celebrated the opening of the Ledges Event Center, named for the sandstone cliffs in the area.
County Historian Navee Vernon told us that one cliff in particular is a trademark for Coalville.
“There are several ledges in Coalville and in the vicinity of Coalville. On the northeast side of Coalville there is a huge, wide sandstone cliff and that is what we call the Coalville Ledge. Its one of the first sights you see as you enter Coalville.”
The landmark is starting to attract more attention for the petroglyphs on the site.
“What’s significant against the rock art style is that it’s from three different regions they tell me. The Eastern Great Basin, the Colorado Plateau and the Northwest Plains are all represented there with the rock art that’s on the ledge.”
The Ledge also bears some markings from the white settlers of the north Summit area.
“There is a lot of engravings of names that are on the ledge. From 1857, 1871, 1913 I find them just as interesting as the rock art in some ways. We try to look up some of the names, who the people are that represent those names. We find a little history with them.”
The property is owned by the North Summit School District which is working with the county and the Utah State Historical Society to preserve the Ledge and stop the more recent graffiti, now left by spray paint.
“Some of the graffiti you’re going to have to be very careful—is what I understand—when you’re cleaning it off or you do remove the rock art. A lot of the graffiti can be removed.”
Vernon said she thinks some of the damage is done because people don't understand the significance of the Ledge.
“I don’t think people have realized that the rock art is on the ledge. You have to see some of the most interesting sights when the sun hits it just right. I think through the years the town people have climbed the ledge for years and years. The kids have played on it, it’s been a wonderful place where people have climbed and enjoyed themselves. I think sometimes they sprayed or wrote their names on there not realizing that the rock art was there.”
She said they have a couple of security cameras on the site. Vernon said she would like to get started on removing some of the graffiti.
“Some of the graffiti is (at) an abandoned aqueduct that is tunneled through the ledge. They used to bring the ditch water from Chalk Creek over into the north side farms. Right through there it’s sprayed a lot and I think we can remove that and it won’t bother any of the rock art. There is another thing that is really interesting about the ledge and the preservation. There used to be a rock quarry on it and the sandstone rock is what is the Summit County Courthouse is built from and there’s several homes around that still are here that are built from the sandstone rock.”
Vernon added that the sandstone formations also inspired the name of Chalk Creek, which runs through the town.
