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History · Eureka

Eureka’s post office opened in 1870, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 324 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
7on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eureka’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eureka began

When was Eureka founded?

1870

The Eureka post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 122 in 18802020 census: 662156 years
Founding year: the first Eureka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Eureka’s past

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

A historic districtThe Eureka Historic District takes in 324 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,608 in 1920; 662 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Eureka’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

7 listings protect 327 historic buildings

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

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
327
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Eureka City Cemetery
US Post Office-Eureka Main, built 1923Knightsville School FoundationYankee Headframe
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Eureka City CemeterySite
US Post Office-Eureka MainClassical Revival · Built 1923
All 7 listings
Beck No. 2 MineBuilding · listed 1979Centennial-Eureka MineStructure · listed 1979Eureka Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1979Knightsville School FoundationSite · listed 1979Yankee HeadframeSite · listed 1979

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

Help out

Start Eureka’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewEureka, Tintic, Utah 1911: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Eureka, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,608

Peaked at 3,608 in 1920; 662 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Eureka, in brief

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

Eureka is a city in Juab County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The population was 662 at the 2020 census, down from 669 in 2010. The city was named after the Greek word eureka, meaning "I have found it!"

Its first post office opened in 1870. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 669 in 2010, 662 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Eureka, 1870 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Eureka post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Born hereFrank Zamboni is born here
  5. 1907Born hereWilton Ivie is born here
  6. 1911In the archiveEureka, Tintic, Utah 1911
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 3,608
  8. 1923BuiltUS Post Office-Eureka Main is built
  9. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Eureka, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Eureka, Tintic, Utah 19111911Eureka, Tintic, Utah 1911
1920s–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
Date unknown2 to date
Eureka Post Office, 205 Main, southeast corner of Main & Wallace AlleyDate?Eureka Post Office, 205 Main, southeast corner of Mai…Bullion Beck & Champion Mine, Headframe, Tintic Mining DistrictDate?Bullion Beck & Champion Mine, Headframe, Tintic Minin…
Today3 recent
Welcome sign on east Main Street, Eureka, Utah, May 162016Welcome sign on east Main Street, Eureka, Utah, May 16Southwest along US-6 in east Eureka, May 162016Southwest along US-6 in east Eureka, May 16Juab County and Eureka, Utah signs on US-6, May 162016Juab County and Eureka, Utah signs on US-6, May 16
On the map

Eureka on the map, 1949 to 1992

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

Eureka on the 1949 USGS mapEureka on the 1954 USGS mapEureka on the 1992 USGS map1949Eureka 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 Eureka.

Every building

Eureka, building by building, 1890–1908

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Eureka fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Eureka, Tintic, Utah 1911
Retake this viewEureka, Tintic, Utah 1911, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Eureka

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
F
Frank ZamboniAmerican inventor and engineer · b. 1901
W
Wilton IvieAmerican arachnologist · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Eureka’s post office has been open since 1870.

Gone or out of use
Eureka HillmineGeminimineRidge and Valley Minemine

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

Questions about Eureka’s history

What year was Eureka founded?

The Eureka post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Eureka?

7 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Eureka Historic District, with 324 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 1 structure. 327 historic buildings in all.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.