Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1884.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fillmore’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fillmore is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #13 of 119 in Utah. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fillmore’s overall grade.
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 Fillmore’s 29.9 sits above most of its state (77% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.1 points). Two sources give 1851.
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 Fillmore’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fillmore, located near the geographic center of the territory, was originally built as the capital of Utah Territory. The Utah Territorial Legislature approved a plan to locate the capital in the Pahvant Valley. On October 28, 1851, Utah governor Brigham Young chose the specific site for Fillmore. Jesse W. Fox, that same day, surveyed the town. Anson Call headed the colonizing company that shortly followed; they built houses, a grist mill, and a sawmill. The capitol building was begun in 1852.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fillmore. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Fillmore 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 Fillmore.
Every building
Fillmore, building by building, 1917–1930
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.
Grew from 715 people in 1860 to 2,592 in 2020, 3 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fillmore’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Fillmore’s history
What year was Fillmore founded?
In 1851, according to Wikidata. Fillmore’s post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1860 counted 715 people here.
How does Fillmore rank for history?
Fillmore is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #13 of 119 in Utah. 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 Fillmore?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Utah Territorial Capitol (listed 1970, the first), and 1 site. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fillmore?
24% of Fillmore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (8), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, 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.
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