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History · Escalante

Escalante dates to 1875, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 124 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1880.

1875founded
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Escalante’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Escalante began

When was Escalante founded?

1875

Escalante dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 623 in 18802020 census: 786151 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓

What stands out about Escalante’s past

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

A historic districtThe Escalante Historic District takes in 124 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,161 in 1940; 786 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 124 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
124
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Escalante Historic District
Escalante Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Escalante Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2013

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

People over time

Escalante, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,161

Peaked at 1,161 in 1940; 786 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

By decade

Escalante, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
Escalante people. Utah1936Escalante people. UtahType home. Escalante, Utah1936Type home. Escalante, UtahVillage dwelling. Escalante, Utah1936Village dwelling. Escalante, UtahWater supply1936Water supplyDesert mountains surround Escalante, Utah1936Desert mountains surround Escalante, UtahMormon village home. Escalante, Utah1936Mormon village home. Escalante, UtahMormon farm village. Escalante, Utah1936Mormon farm village. Escalante, UtahHigh school1936High schoolA home after the Utah pattern. Escalante, Utah1936A home after the Utah pattern. Escalante, UtahThe movie theatre of Escalante, Utah1936The movie theatre of Escalante, UtahMain street and town center. Escalante, Utah1936Main street and town center. Escalante, UtahFrom the village to the field. Escalante, Utah1936From the village to the field. Escalante, Utah
1940s–1990snothing 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
The story

How Escalante came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Escalante.

Read it all →

In 1776, Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez left Santa Fe, New Mexico attempting to find a route to the missions of California. The Dominguez–Escalante Expedition followed a route north through western Colorado, west across central Utah, and then southwest through what is now called the Escalante Desert, finally circling back to the east after reaching Arizona near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. They returned to Santa Fe having never entered California or the areas near the city of Escalante. In 1866; Captain James Andrus led members of the Southern Utah militia through the Escalante area during the Black Hawk Indian War. The valley east of the Escalante Mountains, where the city of Escalante is located, was named Potato Valley since the group had found wild potatoes growing there.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Escalante, 1875 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875
    FoundingEscalante is established
  3. 1879Post officeThe Escalante post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1936In the archiveEscalante people. Utah
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,161
  7. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Escalante on the map, 1964 to 2002

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

Escalante on the 1964 USGS mapEscalante on the 2002 USGS map1964Escalante 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 Escalante.

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.

Escalante people. Utah
Retake this viewEscalante people. Utah, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Escalante’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEscalante people. Utah: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Escalante’s history

What year was Escalante founded?

In 1875, according to Wikidata. Escalante’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1880 counted 623 people here.

What is on the National Register in Escalante?

One place: the Escalante Historic District (listed 2013).

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 (12), 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.