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History · Leeds

Leeds dates to 1867, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Wells Fargo and Company Express Building, the Leeds Tithing Office and the Leeds CCC Camp Historic District. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1890.

1867founded
3on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leeds’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leeds began

When was Leeds founded?

1867

Leeds dates its founding to 1867 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 223 in 18902020 census: 864159 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Leeds’ 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.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1940 and 1960, then grew 7-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leeds’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leeds’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 viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, P. …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Leeds, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020268 in 1940Low: 109

Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1960, then grew 7-fold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Leeds came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leeds.

Read it all →

Formerly known as Bennington, Leeds was formed due to flooding in the neighboring town of Harrisburg. The residents in the flood-affected areas decided to move to this area in 1867. It was renamed in honor of Leeds in England, the origin of many of its settlers. In recent years, the city's proximity to the ghost town of Silver Reef, the Pine Valley Mountains, and Zion National Park have changed the local economic base from agriculture to tourism.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leeds, 1867 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingLeeds is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Leeds post office opens
  4. 1877BuiltWells Fargo and Company Express Building is built
  5. 1877Post officeThe Silver Reef post office opens
  6. 1891BuiltLeeds Tithing Office is built
  7. 1895Post officeThe Silver Reef post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1966Post officeThe Leeds post office closes
  11. 1968In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks, Photographer August, 1968 NORTHWES…
  12. 21st century
  13. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 864
By decade

Leeds, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s2 items
Historic American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks, Photographer August, 1968 NORTHWEST (FRONT) ELEVATION. - Charles…1968Historic American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks…Historic American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks, Photographer August, 1968 NORTHWEST (FRONT) ELEVATION. - William…1968Historic American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks…
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
Date unknown2 to date
William Stirling HouseDate?William Stirling HouseCharles Wilkinson HouseDate?Charles Wilkinson House
Today3 recent
Leeds Utah Tithing Office2019Leeds Utah Tithing OfficeLeeds, Utah Town Hall2015Leeds, Utah Town HallBurger Peak2012Burger Peak
On the map

Leeds on the map, 1954 to 1986

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

Leeds on the 1954 USGS mapLeeds on the 1986 USGS map1954La Verkin 3 NE 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 Leeds.

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.

Historic American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks, Photographer August, 1968 NORTHWEST (FRONT) ELEVATION. - Charles…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, P. Kent Fairbanks, Photographer August, 1968 NORTHWEST (FRONT) ELEVATION. - Charles…, 1968

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Leeds

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Wells Fargo and Company Express Building
Wells Fargo and Company Express Building, built 1877Leeds Tithing Office, built 1891Leeds CCC Camp Historic District
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Civilian Conservation Corps Vernacular1
Public Works Administration Moderne1
Wells Fargo and Company Express BuildingBuilt 1877
Leeds Tithing OfficeGreek Revival · Built 1891
Leeds CCC Camp Historic DistrictCivilian Conservation Corps Vernacular

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Leeds had its own post office from 1870 to 1966. Another post office, Silver Reef, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Leeds
1870–1966
Silver Reef
1877–1895
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Silver Reef
Gone or out of use
Doyle ShaftmineVanderbilt Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Leeds
LeedsSilver Reef CatholicSilver Reef Protestant

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Toquerville4 historic placesB

Questions about Leeds’ history

What year was Leeds founded?

In 1867, according to Wikidata. Leeds’ post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1890 counted 223 people here.

What is on the National Register in Leeds?

Three places: the Wells Fargo and Company Express Building (listed 1971), the Leeds Tithing Office (1985) and the Leeds CCC Camp Historic District (1993).

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 (5), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.