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CHistory
History · Bluffdale

Bluffdale dates to 1848, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #76 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Most of Bluffdale was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Its Register listing is the Camp Williams Hostess House/Officers' Club. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1980.

1848founded
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bluffdale began

When was Bluffdale founded?

1848

Bluffdale dates its founding to 1848 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1980.

First census: 1,300 in 19802020 census: 17,014178 years

How historic is Bluffdale?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bluffdale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bluffdale is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #76 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 Bluffdale’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19403.1% of homes (±4.0) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 36%

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 Bluffdale’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (40% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1848.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Bluffdale’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 Bluffdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages10 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1848: 178 years of Bluffdale.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bluffdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bluffdale’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
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Avalon EstatesCountry LivingGardiner EstatesJohnson AndersonJordanLewis EstatesMoyal AndersonNashOliversSouth Bluff Estates
Gone or out of use
Camp Williams Airfieldairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bluffdale
Bluffdale CityUtah Veterans Cemetery and Memorial Park

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Bluffdale, 1848 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848
    FoundingBluffdale is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1935BuiltCamp Williams Hostess House/Officers' Club is built
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Bluffdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bluffdale.

Read it all →

Bluffdale, named for its geography of bluffs and dales, was first settled in 1848–1849, when the area was originally part of West Jordan. On July 29, 1858, Orrin Porter Rockwell paid five- hundred dollars to Evan M. Green for sixteen acres of land near the Crystal Hot Lakes (adjacent to the present Utah State Prison). This land included Hot Springs Hotel and Brewery with dining facilities, a stable brewery, and a pony express station. As the community expanded, the Bluffdale area became part of South Jordan, then Riverton. In 1883 the Bluffdale School Precinct was formed from parts of Herriman, South Jordan, and Draper. On August 1, 1886, the Bluffdale Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized with Lewis H. Mousley as Bishop. For a short time, the town was called Mousley. Seven irrigation canals originate at the Jordan Narrows in the Bluffdale area and serve …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bluffdale, decade by decade

Today16 recent
Bluffdale, UT 2017 Population Pyramid2019Bluffdale, UT 2017 Population PyramidBluffdale Population Pyramid 20162018Bluffdale Population Pyramid 2016Bluffdale Population 1980-20172018Bluffdale Population 1980-2017Bluffdale 2016 ACS Population Pyramid2018Bluffdale 2016 ACS Population PyramidSummer in France with baby (Unsplash)2017Summer in France with baby (Unsplash)Nike Air Jordan XIV2016Nike Air Jordan XIVNike Air Jordan XIV (cropped)2016Nike Air Jordan XIV (cropped)Nike Air Jordan XIII2016Nike Air Jordan XIIINike Air Jordan XIII (cropped)2016Nike Air Jordan XIII (cropped)Nike Air Jordan X Steel2016Nike Air Jordan X SteelNike Air Jordan X Steel (cropped)2016Nike Air Jordan X Steel (cropped)Jordan II2016Jordan IIJordan II (cropped)2016Jordan II (cropped)Guard tower at Utah State Prison, Sep 162016Guard tower at Utah State Prison, Sep 16DSC05947 Edit2014DSC05947 Edit640th active shooter scenario 121212-F-US032-7722012640th active shooter scenario 121212-F-US032-772
On the map

Bluffdale on the map, 1951 to 1993

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

Bluffdale on the 1951 USGS mapBluffdale on the 1993 USGS map1951Jones Narrows 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 Bluffdale.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bluffdale

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
1985
Camp Williams Hostess House/Officers' Club
Camp Williams Hostess House/Officers' Club, built 1935
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

English Tudor1
Camp Williams Hostess House/Officers' ClubEnglish Tudor · Built 1935

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

People over time

Bluffdale, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00019802000202017,014

Grew from 1,300 people in 1980 to 17,014 in 2020, more than tenfold.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bluffdale

Nobody well known was born in Bluffdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Julianne HoughAmerican dancer, choreographer, actress, singer… · b. 1988
Daniel Wayne SermónAmerican musician, songwriter, and record produ… · b. 1984
Gary HerbertAmerican politician · b. 1947
Don L. LindAmerican astronaut · b. 1930
W
Wayne C. BoothAmerican academic · b. 1921
Gene FullmerAmerican boxer · b. 1931
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HerrimanIts storyDRiverton4 historic placesCDraper17 historic placesB−Lehi16 historic placesC+

Questions about Bluffdale’s history

What year was Bluffdale founded?

In 1848, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1980 counted 1,300 people here.

How does Bluffdale rank for history?

Bluffdale is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #76 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 Bluffdale?

One place: the Camp Williams Hostess House/Officers' Club (listed 1985).

How old are the homes in Bluffdale?

3% of Bluffdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2011.

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 (16), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.