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Utah Dinosaurs (page 3)

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Dinah
Vernal, UT		 Best Western Antlers Inn
Vernal, UT
Dinah is a 40-foot-tall pink fiberglass Brontosaurus with long lashes. She was built in 1958 when George Millecam, the owner of the Dine-a-Ville Motel, decided to build some dinosaurs to attract customers. His wife had made a five-inch-tall model of Dinah. They had the YESCO sign company in Salt Lake City build the statue. Millecam, a carpenter, built five other cement dinosaurs himself from photos of skeletons. In 1999, when the motel was demolished, the statue was donated to the City and moved to the east entrance of town. In 2007, her eyes were restored to move back and forth. These photos are from 2012. In 2014, the statue was restored. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

This Best Western Antlers Inn sign is located at the former Antlers Motel. The Antlers Motel opened in 1945. There was a different pole sign there by the 1950s which had a deer image and no signs of dinosaurs. That sign was later moved over the canopy in either the late 1950s or 1960s. This sign was installed sometime after the mid-1960s. [map]

Dinosaur Motel
Vernal, UT
The Dinosaur Motel is now known as the Best Western Dinosaur Inn. This dinosaur sign remains. It was most likely inspired by the Dine-a-Ville Motel statue/sign shown above which preceded it. [map]

T-Rex
Vernal, UT
The 23-foot-tall T-Rex was the fifth and final dinosaur built by George Millecam for the Dine-a-Ville Motel. It is located at the motel's original location at the west entrance to town. Three of the other dinosaurs were moved to nearby Dinosaur, CO. The statue is dressed in different costumes throughout the year. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [photos of T-Rex in costume in the second, third, and fourth rows above thanks Glade Allred] [map]

Dinosaur Safari [gone]
West Yellowstone, MT

Utah Field House of Natural History
Dinosaur Garden
Vernal, UT
The Utah Field House of Natural History features a museum and an outdoor Dinosaur Garden with the statues shown above. Fourteen of the fiberglass statues were produced in the early 1960s by Elbert H. Porter. He was inspired by the dinosaur fossils in Vernal, UT. Porter taught art and sculpture at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT from 1947-1962. These statues were originally part of Porter's studio and public display known as "Dinosaur World" which was located in or near Salt Lake City. They were later moved to the Dinosaur Safari park in West Yellowstone, MT (see postcards above). The park was open from the 1960s until the early 1970s. At that point, the statues were moved to Orderville, UT. They were displayed there at a park known as Dinosaurland until at least 1976.

In 1977, the state of Utah purchased the statues for the Field House. They were installed at the museum in 1978. When the museum moved down the road in 2004, the statues were brought along. There are also more recent dinosaur statues in the Garden that were created by David A. Thomas. [Dinosaur Safari scans thanks Sharon Marie] [map]

former Utah Field House of Natural History
Vernal, UT
This building was the former location of the Utah Field House of Natural History. The collections and other dinosaurs were moved down the street a bit to bigger digs in 2004. This dinosaur threesome was created by Millard Fillmore Malin from 1962-1964. It was installed here in front of the old Field House building in 1964. The building was demolished in 2013 but these statues remain. A park was built behind them. The museum's other fiberglass dinosaurs (described above) were easier to move than these cement and granite statues. [map]

Utah Dinos
page 1		 Utah Dinos
page 2		 Dinosaurs
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