Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Centerfield

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B−History
History · Centerfield

Centerfield dates to 1869, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Centerfield School and Meetinghouse. Below: maps from 1981 on and the census since 1910.

1869founded
1on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Centerfield began

When was Centerfield founded?

1869

Centerfield dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 841 in 19102020 census: 1,341157 years

How historic is Centerfield?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Centerfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centerfield is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Centerfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1869, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.4% of homes (±7.4) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 8.1 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder

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 Centerfield’s 8.1 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1869.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points).

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 Centerfield’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 Centerfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Centerfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Centerfield’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

Centerfield, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020841 in 1910Low: 419

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Centerfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Centerfield.

Read it all →

Centerfield was first known as Skin Town. It seems that about 1880, a new method for tanning cowhides was discovered and implemented in New York. At the same time, Sanpete suffered a terrible winter with such deep snow that many cattle couldn't find enough forage and died.

In order to keep their operations from being a total loss, the ranchers skinned the cows, used the new tanning method on the hides, and hung them out on their fences to dry. The fact that all the fences were draped with cowhides led to the name “Skin Town”. It was also called South Gunnison or Twin Town. When the town was incorporated in 1907, the residents chose the more dignified name of Centerfield because of the community's central location.

ChaptersGunnison Valley Sugar Company

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Centerfield, 1869 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869
    FoundingCenterfield is established
  3. 1898Post officeThe Centerfield post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1981On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1987Post officeThe Centerfield post office closes
  7. 21st century
  8. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,367
By decade

Centerfield, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Welcome to Centerfield, Nov 152015Welcome to Centerfield, Nov 15Elevated Transit Thomas HDX bus at Centerfield Chevron 22015Elevated Transit Thomas HDX bus at Centerfield Chevro…Elevated Transit Thomas HDX bus at Centerfield Chevron 12015Elevated Transit Thomas HDX bus at Centerfield Chevro…East at Centerfield Cemetery in Centerfield, Utah, Nov 152015East at Centerfield Cemetery in Centerfield, Utah, No…Untitled photo2007Untitled photo
On the map

Centerfield on the map in 1981

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centerfield.

Centerfield on the 1981 USGS map1981Manti sheet · 1:100,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Centerfield

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
2000
Centerfield School and Meetinghouse
Centerfield School and Meetinghouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire1
Mansard1
Centerfield School and MeetinghouseSecond Empire

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Centerfield had its own post office from 1898 to 1987.

Centerfield
1898–1987
18901960today
1cemetery inside Centerfield
Centerfield

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

Questions about Centerfield’s history

What year was Centerfield founded?

In 1869, according to Wikidata. Centerfield’s post office opened in 1898, and the census of 1910 counted 841 people here.

How does Centerfield rank for history?

Centerfield is more historic than 54% 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.

What is on the National Register in Centerfield?

One place: the Centerfield School and Meetinghouse (listed 2000).

How old are the homes in Centerfield?

16% of Centerfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1989.

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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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.