A post office called Marysvale has been in operation since 1872. The town's name probably commemorates the Virgin Mary. In the late 1860s, silver ore was discovered in the Volcanic Series of Bullion Canyon and Mount Belknap, west of Marysvale in the Tushar Mountains. In 1889, gold was discovered. Then in 1949, uranium was discovered, prompting the United States Atomic Energy Commission to establish an ore purchasing station and field office in Marysvale. The uranium occurs as veins within quartz monzonite, granite and rhyolite, usually in the form of pitchblende, but also as umohoite, which was first identified at Marysvale. The pitchblende has been age dated to the Late Miocene. Total uranium production from the Marysvale area amounted to about 275,000 tons of 0.2 per cent U2O8.
At the 2000 census there were 381 people, 149 households, and 113 families in the town. The population density was 25.2 people per square mile. There were 222 housing units at an average density of 14.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98.43% White, 0.79% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.10%. Of the 149 households 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.8% were married couplesliving together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. Of the 149 households, 8 are unmarried partner households: 2 heterosexual, 2 same-sex male, and 4 same-sex female. 21.5% of households were one person and 9.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.96. The age distribution was 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. The median household income was $31,875 and the median family income was $35,417. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $21,667 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,715. About 9.1% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable person
Actress Marie Windsor was born in Marysvale in 1919.
