Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1968 on.
Castle Dale dates its founding to 1877 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1879.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Castle Dale is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Castle Dale’s 64.7 sits above most of its state (87% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Castle Dale’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Castle Dale.
The first settlement at Castle Dale was made in 1879. The community incorporated as the Town of Castle Dale in 1900, and became Castle Dale City, a city of the third class, in July 1920.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltJustis Wellington II Seeley House is builtBuiltPaul C. Christensen House is builtBuiltCastle Dale School is built
In the archiveCLOSE-UP VIEW OF SOUTHEAST CABLE BOLT, SUSPENSION CABLE, AND CONCRETE ANCHORING BLOCK, LO…One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Castle Dale’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Castle Dale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1877, according to Wikidata. Castle Dale’s post office opened in 1879.
Castle Dale is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. 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.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Castle Dale School (listed 1978, the first), and 1 structure. 10 historic buildings in all.
10% of Castle Dale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
1968
1968