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CHistory
History · Mona

Mona dates to 1852, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1870 on.

1852founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mona’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mona began

When was Mona founded?

1852

Mona dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1864.

2020 census: 1,750174 years

How historic is Mona?

C

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mona’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mona is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mona’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.1% of homes (±7.8) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical UT town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 27%
NewerOlder

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 Mona’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). Two sources give 1852.

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 Mona’s 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mona’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHoward and Martha Coray Farmhouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Mona came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mona.

Read it all →

Mona, one of the early settlements along the old Arrowhead Trail, was originally settled in 1852. First named Clover Creek for patches of wild clover that grew along the creek in the area, it was later renamed Willow Creek for its water source, then Starr for a local settler, before receiving its present name.

When he was a traveling worker and singer in the early 1930s, Burl Ives was once jailed in Mona for singing "Foggy Foggy Dew", because it was considered bawdy by the authorities.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mona, 1852 to 1921

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingMona is established
  3. 1864Post officeThe Mona post office opens
  4. 1870In the archiveHoward and Martha Coray Farmhouse
  5. 1876Born hereDon B. Colton is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1921In the archiveBaptism at Mona, Utah (Juvenile Instructor)
By decade

Mona, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s3 items
Howard and Martha Coray Farmhouse1870Howard and Martha Coray FarmhouseMORMON VILLAGE OF MONA BELOW FOOTHILLS OF NEBO PEAK OR MOUNT NEBO, FROM THE WEST WAHSATCH MOUNTAINS (SIC), UTAH1872MORMON VILLAGE OF MONA BELOW FOOTHILLS OF NEBO PEAK O…SMALL ARTIFICIAL LAKE FOR IRRIGATION AT MONA, LAKE1872SMALL ARTIFICIAL LAKE FOR IRRIGATION AT MONA, LAKE
1920s1 item
Baptism at Mona, Utah (Juvenile Instructor)1921Baptism at Mona, Utah (Juvenile Instructor)
1930s–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
Today2 recent
UT-54 East2013UT-54 EastEnd UT-542013End UT-54
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.

Howard and Martha Coray Farmhouse
Retake this viewHoward and Martha Coray Farmhouse, 1870

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Mona’s history

What year was Mona founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Mona’s post office opened in 1864.

How does Mona rank for history?

Mona is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Mona?

10% of Mona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2001.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.