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History · Howell

Howell’s post office opened in 1910, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Ntsimp · Public domain
Quick answers

How Howell began

When was Howell founded?

1910

The Howell post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Showell (1910), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 302 in 19202020 census: 240116 years
Founding year: the first Howell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Howell’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Howell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Howell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Howell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Howell.

Read it all →

Howell lies in the Blue Creek Valley that stretches north-south between four mountain ranges, Promontory Mountains, south, North Promontory Mountains, west, West Hills, northeast, and Blue Spring Hills, southeast. The northeast Great Salt Lake lies to the south of Howell, and north of Howell finds Interstate 84, roughly the area known to locals as Blue Creek. Nomadic Shoshone Indians used the area to travel between the Great Salt Lake and areas to the north.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Howell, 1910 to 1968

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Howell post office opens
  3. 1910Post officeThe Showell post office opens
  4. 1915Post officeThe Showell post office closes
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Howell, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Buried Trussles2018Buried TrusslesSouth at I-84 & SR-83 interchange, Howell, Utah, Jun 172017South at I-84 & SR-83 interchange, Howell, Utah, Jun …South along SR-83 in Howell, Utah, Jun 172017South along SR-83 in Howell, Utah, Jun 17SR-83 shield in Howell, Utah, Jun 172017SR-83 shield in Howell, Utah, Jun 17North at I-84 & SR-83 interchange, Howell, Utah, Jun 172017North at I-84 & SR-83 interchange, Howell, Utah, Jun …Howell Utah School2009Howell Utah School
On the map

Howell on the map, 1968 to 1989

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

Howell on the 1968 USGS mapHowell on the 1989 USGS map1968Howell 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 Howell.

People over time

Howell, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 302

Between 146 and 302 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Howell

Nobody well known was born in Howell itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Kip S. ThorneAmerican physicist · b. 1940
John GilbertAmerican actor and film director · b. 1897
Merlin OlsenAmerican football player and actor · b. 1940
Jay SilvesterAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1937
Marriner Stoddard EcclesAmerican economist and banker · b. 1890
Chris StewartAuthor, politician · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Howell’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Showell, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Howell
1910–today
Showell
1910–1915
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Howell Airportairport
1cemetery inside Howell
Howell

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

Questions about Howell’s history

What year was Howell founded?

The Howell post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (6), 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.