In 1916, 80,000 bricks were sent 400 miles in order to build a bank.
Unbelievable, but true.
The story goes that Vernal’s one and only bank, run by William H. Coltharp, needed a larger building to accommodate its growth.
While cheaper local bricks were to be used for most of the construction, Coltharp wanted only the finest bricks to be used for the façade of the building.
These bricks were pressed in Salt Lake City, some 125 miles away. Of course, as it would turn out, the route the bricks would have to travel was 400 miles long.
The problem was, private wagon freighters wanted to charge 15 cents per brick, which Coltharp deemed too expensive.
After some searching he discovered he could send his bricks using the US Post Office’s parcel service to send the bricks at less than half the cost. And so he did.
Naturally, this gave rise to the name Parcel Post Bank.
Want to know more about this story? There are still some interesting facts to be uncovered, which you can read about by following the below links:
Parcel Post Bank – Vernal Zions Bank celebrates 100 years
Bank of Vernal: The Building That Was Mailed Through The Post
Photo Credit: Ntsimp/Wikipedia
