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History · Boulder

Boulder dates to 1890, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Coombs Village Site and the Boulder Elementary School. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1900.

1890founded
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Boulder’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Boulder began

When was Boulder founded?

1890

Boulder dates its founding to 1890 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 104 in 19002020 census: 227136 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1900.

What stands out about Boulder’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · People over time

Boulder, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020216 in 1940Low: 93

Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Boulder, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Boulder yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Boulder is a town in Garfield County, Utah, United States, 27 miles (44 km) northeast of Escalante on Utah Scenic Byway 12 at its intersection with the Burr Trail. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 227. Boulder was isolated from other communities until the Civilian Conservation Corps built a road from Escalante, and did not get electric power until 1947. The town marks the western terminus of Burr Trail, a mostly paved road that runs eastward through red rock country to the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. Boulder is the home of Anasazi Indian State Park.

Boulder was established in 1890. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 226 in 2010, 227 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Boulder, 1890 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890
    FoundingBoulder is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Boulder post office opens
  5. 1925In the archiveGarfield Stake Relief Society officers (Relief Society Magazine, 1925)
  6. 1960BuiltCoombs Village Site is built
  7. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1995In the archiveScenic Byway 12 - Horses Grazing in
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 227
By decade

Boulder, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Garfield Stake Relief Society officers (Relief Society Magazine, 1925)1925Garfield Stake Relief Society officers (Relief Societ…
1930s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s4 items
Scenic Byway 12 - Horses Grazing in1995Scenic Byway 12 - Horses Grazing inScenic Byway 12 - Old Pioneer Fence in1995Scenic Byway 12 - Old Pioneer Fence inScenic Byway 12 - Old, Pioneer-Era Fence in1995Scenic Byway 12 - Old, Pioneer-Era Fence inScenic Byway 12 - Overlooking1995Scenic Byway 12 - Overlooking
On the map

Boulder on the map, 1964 to 2002

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

Boulder on the 1964 USGS mapBoulder on the 2002 USGS map1964Boulder Town 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 Boulder.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Garfield Stake Relief Society officers (Relief Society Magazine, 1925)
Retake this viewGarfield Stake Relief Society officers (Relief Society Magazine, 1925), 1925

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Boulder’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Boulder

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Coombs Village Site
Coombs Village Site, built 1960Boulder Elementary School
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Moderne1
Coombs Village SiteBuilt 1960
All 2 listings
Boulder Elementary SchoolBuilding · listed 1985

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Boulder

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

See all →
Buddy MerrillAmerican musician · b. 1936
S
Stan BastianAmerican educator and politician · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Boulder’s post office has been open since 1900.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Boulder Town
1cemetery inside Boulder
Boulder

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

Help out

Finish Boulder’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGarfield Stake Relief Society officers …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Boulder’s history

What year was Boulder founded?

In 1890, according to Wikidata. Boulder’s post office opened in 1900, and the census of 1900 counted 104 people here.

What is on the National Register in Boulder?

Two places: the Coombs Village Site (listed 1976) and the Boulder Elementary School (1985).

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.