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CHistory
History · Alpine

Alpine dates to 1850, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #67 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Most of Alpine was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Its Register listings are the Alpine LDS Church Meetinghouse, the Alpine City Hall and the Moyle House and Indian Tower. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1860.

1850founded
3on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alpine began

When was Alpine founded?

1850

Alpine dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 135 in 18602020 census: 10,251176 years

How historic is Alpine?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Alpine’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alpine is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #67 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alpine’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.0% of homes (±1.1) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 3.8 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 44%

Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alpine’s 3.8 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1850.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Alpine’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 Alpine are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alpine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alpine’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
The story

How Alpine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alpine.

Read it all →

The area, which would one day become Alpine, was settled by William Wordsworth and several other homesteading families in the fall of 1850. The town was originally called Mountainville, and under the latter name settlement was first made in 1851. The city was renamed because the views from the elevated town site were compared to the Swiss Alps. In the 1860s Mrs. Joseph Walton made a flag to represent the city. The flag was carried across the county, it flew for 40 years.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alpine, 1850 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850
    FoundingAlpine is established
  3. 1857BuiltAlpine LDS Church Meetinghouse is built
  4. 1857Post officeThe Alpine City post office opens
  5. 1859Born hereWilliam M. McCarty is born here
  6. 1895Post officeThe Alpine City post office closes
  7. 1895Post officeThe Alpine post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903Born hereCelestia Taylor is born here
  10. 1904Post officeThe Alpine post office closes
  11. 1936BuiltAlpine City Hall is built
  12. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1966Born hereBronco Mendenhall is born here
  14. 21st century
  15. 2000Born hereSteven Ashworth is born here
By decade

Alpine, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Waterfall on Rocky Mouth Trail DyeClan.com2011Waterfall on Rocky Mouth Trail DyeClan.comAlpine (Utah)2007Alpine (Utah)Alpine UT aerial2006Alpine UT aerialTraverse Mountains (South Mountain), Draper and2004Traverse Mountains (South Mountain), Draper and
On the map

Alpine on the map, 1951 to 1994

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

Alpine on the 1951 USGS mapAlpine on the 1969 USGS mapAlpine on the 1975 USGS mapAlpine on the 1994 USGS map1951Lehi 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 Alpine.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Alpine

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Alpine LDS Church Meetinghouse
Alpine LDS Church Meetinghouse, built 1857Alpine City Hall, built 1936Moyle House and Indian Tower
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mid-19th Century2
Greek Revival1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Classical1
Colonial Revival1
Vernacular1
Alpine LDS Church MeetinghouseMid-19th Century · Built 1857
Alpine City HallLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1936
Moyle House and Indian TowerMid-19th Century

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

People over time

Alpine, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00019001950200010,251

Grew from 135 people in 1860 to 10,251 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Alpine

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bronco MendenhallAmerican football player and coach · b. 1966
Celestia TaylorAmerican university teacher · b. 1903
Steven AshworthAmerican basketball player · b. 2000
William M. McCartyAmerican judge · b. 1859
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Alpine had its own post office from 1895 to 1904. Another post office, Alpine City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alpine City
1857–1895
Alpine
1895–1904
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Highland
1cemetery inside Alpine
Alpine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Highland1 historic placeDDraper17 historic placesB−

Questions about Alpine’s history

What year was Alpine founded?

In 1850, according to Wikidata. Alpine’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1860 counted 135 people here.

How does Alpine rank for history?

Alpine is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #67 of 119 in Utah. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Alpine?

Three places: the Alpine LDS Church Meetinghouse (listed 1990), the Alpine City Hall (1991) and the Moyle House and Indian Tower (1992).

How old are the homes in Alpine?

1% of Alpine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1998.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.