Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fort Duchesne

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
–Not graded
History · Fort Duchesne

Fort Duchesne’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fort Duchesne was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Wong Sing Warehouse. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1850 on.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Duchesne’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Duchesne began

When was Fort Duchesne founded?

1887

The Fort Duchesne post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 546139 years
Founding year: the first Fort Duchesne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fort Duchesne’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fort Duchesne’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Fort Duchesne, in brief

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

Fort Duchesne is a census-designated place (CDP) in Uintah County, Utah, United States. The population was 546 at the 2020 census, a decrease from the 2010 figure of 714. Fort Duchesne was originally a fort, established by the United States Army in 1886 and closed in 1912. The community developed around it within the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, established in 1864. Several bands of Ute were forced on to the reservation about 1880. The headquarters of the Ute Indian Tribe are located here. Its reservation includes much of Uintah and nearby counties.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 714 to 546 (-24%).

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

Timeline

Fort Duchesne, 1850 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-17, ED 24-18…
  3. 1886In the archiveLt. Styer, and Ute Amigos. Near Fort Duchesne, Utah,1886
  4. 1887Post officeThe Fort Duchesne post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1945Born hereErnie Lopez is born here
  7. 1948In the archiveMap of Right-of-Way and Easements Requested across Indian Lands, Duchesne County, Utah
  8. 1952Born hereDanny Lopez is born here
  9. 1968In the archive'UINTAH IRRIGATION SURVEY PLAN OF WEIR, LAKE FORK DITCH. OFFICE OF H. C. MEANS, SUPT. OF …
By decade

Fort Duchesne, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-17, ED 24-18, ED 24-19, ED 24-20, ED 24-21…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah …Lt. Styer, and Ute Amigos. Near Fort Duchesne, Utah,18861886Lt. Styer, and Ute Amigos. Near Fort Duchesne, Utah,1…
1890s–1930snothing 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
1940s–1960s2 items
Map of Right-of-Way and Easements Requested across Indian Lands, Duchesne County, Utah1948Map of Right-of-Way and Easements Requested across In…Map'UINTAH IRRIGATION SURVEY PLAN OF WEIR, LAKE FORK DITCH. OFFICE OF H. C. MEANS, SUPT. OF IRR., FORT DUCHESNE, UTAH.' - …1968'UINTAH IRRIGATION SURVEY PLAN OF WEIR, LAKE FORK DIT…Map
1970s–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
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-17, ED 24-18, ED 24-19, ED 24-20, ED 24-21…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-17, ED 24-18, ED 24-19, ED 24-20, ED 24-21…, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fort Duchesne

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
2024
Wong Sing Warehouse
Wong Sing Warehouse
Buildings
All 1 listings
Wong Sing WarehouseBuilding · listed 2024

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fort Duchesne

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

See all →
Danny LopezAmerican boxer · b. 1952
E
Ernie LopezAmerican boxer · b. 1945

Questions about Fort Duchesne’s history

What year was Fort Duchesne founded?

The Fort Duchesne post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fort Duchesne?

One place: the Wong Sing Warehouse (listed 2024).

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.