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History · Dugway

Dugway’s post office opened in 1904

Most of Dugway was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1970.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dugway’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dugway began

When was Dugway founded?

1904

The Dugway post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1942.

First census: 2,357 in 19702020 census: 342122 years
Founding year: the first Dugway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1942.

What stands out about Dugway’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dugway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dugway’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewDugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Dugway, in brief

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

Dugway is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Tooele County, Utah, United States. The population was 342 at the 2020 census, a continued decrease from the 2010 figure of 795. The town is located inside the United States Army's large weapons testing facility, Dugway Proving Ground, making it a closed city, as the only roads leading to the town pass through military checkpoints at the boundaries of the base. Non-resident civilians must request advance authorization to enter the town. The housing area designated for military and civilian personnel is referred to as "English Village." The name "Dugway" comes from a technique to dig a trench along a hillside to keep a wagon from tipp…

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 795 to 342 (-57%).

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

Timeline

Dugway, 1904 to 1955

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Dugway post office opens
  3. 1953Born hereDavid C Houle is born here
  4. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dugway, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test AreaDate?Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, South…Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, German Village, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test AreaDate?Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, Germa…Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, Observation Bunker, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test AreaDate?Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, Obser…
On the map

Dugway on the map, 1955 to 1993

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

Dugway on the 1955 USGS mapDugway on the 1993 USGS map1955Davis Knolls 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 Dugway.

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.

Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test Area
Retake this viewDugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test Area

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Dugway, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500198020002020Peak: 2,357

Between 342 and 2,357 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Dugway’s post office has been open since 1904.

Gone or out of use
Dugway Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Dugway’s history

What year was Dugway founded?

The Dugway post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1942.

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 the Library of Congress (3), 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.