The story
Read it all →How Ute came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ute.
A post office called Ute has been in operation since 1876. The city was named after the Ute people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Ute
Ute’s post office opened in 1876, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1900.
1876first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Ute began
When was Ute founded?
1876
The Ute post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 407 in 19002020 census: 338150 years
Founding year: the first Ute post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Ute’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ute’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ute’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Ute, census by census
Peaked at 616 in 1930; 338 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ute’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ute in 1890
Passages that mention Ute, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monona County, Iowa1890Read the page →
Read the text
ning water. There is no railroad or station within its limits, the only village being tiie little hamlet of Soldier, most of the marketing of produce being done at the village of Ute, in St. Clair Township. The first settler in what is now Soldier Township, ahd in fact the first white man to locate on the Soldier River between Preparation and Ida
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monona County, Iowa1890Read the page →
Read the text
The first school house in the town was constructed b}' George Patrick, in the fall of 1867. It was a "dug-out," and stood on section 35, on the site of the present village of Ute. The first term of school was taught by Mrs. Mary R. Craig, the sister of M. J. and I. U. Riddle, of this county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Ute, 1876 to 1971
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1876Post officeThe Ute post office opens
- 20th century
- 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 616
- 1971
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Ute, decade by decade
2012
2012
2012
2012
2004On the map
Ute on the map, 1971 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ute. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Ute sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ute.
Every building
Ute, building by building, 1915
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 1Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ute
Nobody well known was born in Ute itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Ute’s post office has been open since 1876.
Gone or out of use
Utelocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Ute’s history
What year was Ute founded?
The Ute post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.