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Pelota FrontonPelota Fronton · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Jordan Valley

Jordan Valley’s post office opened in 1867, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Pelota Fronton. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1900.

1867first post office
1on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Jordan Valley began

When was Jordan Valley founded?

1867

The Jordan Valley post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 110 in 19002020 census: 130159 years
Founding year: the first Jordan Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jordan Valley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Jordan Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 473 in 1980; 130 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jordan Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jordan Valley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Jordan Valley, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 473

Peaked at 473 in 1980; 130 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jordan Valley’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Jordan Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jordan Valley.

Read it all →

Northern Paiute people were the first in the area, frequenting nearby mountains and streambeds to find or follow food sources. When early settlers arrived, conflict developed over local resources, eventually escalating to the Snake War. The conflict lasted from 1864 to 1868 and left two thirds of the Paiutes dead. The surviving Paiutes were sent to a reservation.

Non-native settlement in the area was largely driven by the 1863 discovery of gold along Jordan Creek by a group of prospectors camping in the area. Soon after, the area was named Jordan Valley after Michael M. Jordan, one of the men in the group. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, was among the early miners who came to the area.

ChaptersIndigenous peoplesEarly settlementEconomic transitionBasque immigrationDeclining population

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jordan Valley, 1867 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Jordan Valley post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 473
By decade

Jordan Valley, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Jordan Valley High School2024Jordan Valley High SchoolDanner Road, Jordan Valley - DPLA - ba5e64a635594163fd33fa37961a11dd2016Danner Road, Jordan Valley - DPLA - ba5e64a635594163f…St Bernard Catholic Church2015St Bernard Catholic ChurchThe United Methodist Church, Jordan Valley - DPLA - 18b8e46d88ca2807d689bb488dfea5f02013The United Methodist Church, Jordan Valley - DPLA - 1…JV restoration 12010JV restoration 1ORMap-doton-Jordan Valley2004ORMap-doton-Jordan Valley
On the map

Jordan Valley on the map, 1969 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jordan Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Jordan Valley on the 1969 USGS mapJordan Valley on the 1994 USGS map1969Jordan Valley sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jordan Valley.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Jordan Valley

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Pelota Fronton
Pelota Fronton
Structures
Pelota FrontonStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Jordan Valley’s history

What year was Jordan Valley founded?

The Jordan Valley post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Jordan Valley?

One place: the Pelota Fronton (listed 1972).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.