SPRINGDALE, Utah—Post Offices in Springdale and New Harmony will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Zion National Park with a special postmark.

The Centennial Postmarks will be available from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., on July 31 at two of the Park’s Visitor Centers. The New Harmony Post Office will offer a Centennial Postmark at the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center, located just off Interstate 15 at exit 40, and the Springdale Post Office will offer a Centennial Postmark at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, located inside the Park’s south entrance.

The postmarks are free and can be applied to virtually anything with First-Class postage affixed. Both postmarks feature artwork of the Park’s Great White Throne and the words “A Century of Sanctuary.” The postmarks are identical with the exception of the city names and ZIP Codes.

Both New Harmony Postmaster Kay Benson and Springdale Postmaster Christine Stratton say the postmarks, combined with the recently released Zion National Park postage stamp, make for inexpensive souvenirs of the Park’s Centennial, and encouraged everyone to come down to the Visitor Centers the afternoon of July 31.

Established in 1909 as Mukuntuweap National Monument, the park was expanded and designated a national park in 1919. Now encompassing more than 229 square miles, Zion National Park is characterized by high plateaus and mesas with deep sandstone canyons carved into towering cliffs. One hundred twenty miles of hiking trails are available to the approximately 2.7 million people who annually visit the park.

The special postmarks are also available through the mail for 30 days following the event. Customers should affix first-class postage to postcards or envelopes of their choice, address the postcards/envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to one of the following addresses:

Zion Centennial Postmark, Post Office Box 9998, New Harmony, UT 84757-9998

Zion Centennial Postmark, 624 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, UT 84767-9998.

After applying the postmark, the envelopes will be returned through the mail. Requests must be postmarked no later than Aug. 30, 2009.

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