Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Holladay’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holladay is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #28 of 119 in Utah. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Holladay’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 Holladay’s 8.0 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1847.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size.
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 Holladay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On July 29, 1847, a group of Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) known as the Mississippi Company, among them John Holladay of Alabama, entered the Salt Lake Valley. Within weeks after their arrival, they discovered a free-flowing, spring-fed stream, which they called Spring Creek (near what is now Kentucky Avenue). While most of the group returned to the main settlement in Salt Lake City for the winter, two or three men built dugouts along this stream and wintered over. Thus, this became the first village established away from Salt Lake City itself. In the spring, a number of families hurried out to build homes and tame the land. There were numerous springs and ponds here, and grasses and wild flowers were abundant, making this a desirable area for settlement.
In 1847, according to Wikidata. Holladay’s post office opened in 1892.
How does Holladay rank for history?
Holladay is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #28 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 Holladay?
11 listings: 10 buildings, among them the David B. Brinton House (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Parade of Homes Lakewood Site Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings. 25 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Holladay?
2% of Holladay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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