Magna’s post office opened in 1914, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #55 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Magna was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 37 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1950.
The Magna post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Highland (1876), Riter (1889) and Saltair (1903), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 3,502 in 19502020 census: 29,251112 years
How historic is Magna?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Magna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Magna’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Magna is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #55 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Magna’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 Magna’s 13.3 sits above most of its state (70% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 40 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Magna’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Magna’s post office has been open since 1914. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Highland
1876–1901
Riter
1889–1908
Saltair
1903–1960
Magna
1914–today
Pleasant Green
1914–1915
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
April AcresBonneville AcresBreeze EstatesBrowns TownsiteBurkes AdditionCanyon WestCatalina EstatesCentennial VillageCentennial Village TwoChambers ParkChambers TownsiteChaparral WestCockerills AdditionCopper CoveCopper View EstatesCopperviewCountry CreekCountry Creek Estates FiveCountry Creek Estates One and TwoCountry WestCyprus HeightsDamron WayDen-MarFairview Park
Gone or out of use
Great Salt Lake State Park - Saltair BeachparkSaltairlocale
1cemetery inside Magna
Pleasant Green
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
By decade
Magna, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Settlement of the area began in 1851 shortly after pioneers reached the Salt Lake Valley. Early farmers settled in 1868 at the base of the northern Oquirrh Mountains and called their community Pleasant Green. By 1900, there were about 20 families in the area. One of the first Pleasant Green farmers was Abraham Coon, who established a livestock ranch and settlement called Coonville in a canyon mouth at about 5400 South now known as Coon Canyon. Coon Creek flows out of Coon Canyon and is one of the major Oquirrh Mountain drainages. Coon Creek flows north and west through Magna to the Great Salt Lake.
The Magna post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Magna rank for history?
Magna is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #55 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 Magna?
Three places: the Empress Theatre (listed 1985), the Magna Community Baptist Church (1986) and the Magna Commercial Downtown Historic District (2021).
How old are the homes in Magna?
9% of Magna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1985.
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), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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