Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #66 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Mapleton was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Its Register listing is the Roswell Darius Bird Sr. House. Its Register listing is the Roswell Darius Bird Sr. House. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1900.
Mapleton dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mapleton is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #66 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Mapleton’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mapleton’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mapleton.
The area was first settled in 1850, and for a time was known as Union Bench. It started as an agricultural extension of Springville. Legal action between residents of Springville and what became Mapleton, largely over water rights, allowed Mapleton to chart its course beginning in 1901 when the community incorporated as a town. Mapleton became a city in 1948.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltRoswell Darius Bird Sr. House is built
Born hereDavid W. Allan is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2016East at US-89 & SR 147 (W Maple St) junction, Apr 16
2016East at Main Street & Maple Street in Mapleton, Utah,…
2016East at Main Street & 1600 South in Mapleton, Utah, A…
2016Down lower Maple Canyon, Utah County, Utah, Jul 16
2016USPS letter boxes, Mapleton, Utah, Sep 16Document
2015West at Evergreen Cemetery in Springville, Utah, Jul …
2015Welcome to Mapleton sign
2015USPS mailbox
2015Roadside painter
2015North on US-89, Springville-Mapleton, Jul 15
2015Mapleton City Police vehicle, Utah
2013Fig Leaf
2010Summer Thunderstorm
2004SpringvilMtns
2004Looking down on west Mapleton, Utah, Jun 04
2004Looking down on east Springville, Jun 04
2004Looking down on east Mapleton, Utah, Jun 04Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mapleton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mapleton.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 584 people in 1900 to 11,365 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mapleton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Mapleton had its own post office from 1890 to 1902.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1856, according to Wikidata. Mapleton’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1900 counted 584 people here.
Mapleton is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #66 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.
One place: the Roswell Darius Bird Sr. House (listed 1980).
5% of Mapleton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2005.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
