Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Monroe

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Monroe

Monroe dates to 1864, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #22 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Monroe Presbyterian Church, the Soren Simonsen House and the Monroe City Hall. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1880.

1864founded
3on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Monroe began

When was Monroe founded?

1864

Monroe dates its founding to 1864 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 744 in 18802020 census: 2,515162 years

How historic is Monroe?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Monroe’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monroe is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #22 of 119 in Utah. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Monroe’s overall grade.
Founding era1864, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.9% of homes (±7.2) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 11.5 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 63%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 82%

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 Monroe’s 11.5 sits above most of its state (67% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). Two sources give 1864.

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 Monroe’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 Monroe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1920 and 1970, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Monroe’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Monroe, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500188019001920194019601980200020201,719 in 1920Low: 918

Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1970, then more than doubled.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Monroe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Monroe.

Read it all →

In late 1863, a few exploratory settlers came to Monroe including George Wilson, his son David, and two others who lived in a shelter near the center of modern-day Monroe. They were followed by the first permanent group of settlers, who arrived in Monroe on 20 February 1864. Most, if not all, of the first settlers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who had immigrated to Utah. Four to five months before the first small group of men entered Monroe valley to begin settlement, an advanced team, also led by George Wilson, began to lay some foundation work to help prepare the settlement.

ChaptersPresent day

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Monroe, 1864 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864
    FoundingMonroe is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Monroe post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1918Born hereGlen H. Turner is born here
  6. 1924Born hereMorgan White is born here
  7. 1934BuiltMonroe City Hall is built
  8. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,515
By decade

Monroe, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Thomas Hunt2021Thomas HuntHunt's Lake, Utah2021Hunt's Lake, UtahPioneer Day Parade2013Pioneer Day ParadePioneer Day Parade2013Pioneer Day ParadeUT-118 BGS off of I-70-US-892012UT-118 BGS off of I-70-US-89Fishlake National Forest Sign at Entrance to Monroe Canyon dyeclan.com2010Fishlake National Forest Sign at Entrance to Monroe C…Entrance to Monroe Canyon dyeclan.com2010Entrance to Monroe Canyon dyeclan.comFort Alma 12008Fort Alma 1Monroe, Utah2007Monroe, Utah
On the map

Monroe on the map, 1940 to 2001

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

Monroe on the 1940 USGS mapMonroe on the 1980 USGS mapMonroe on the 2001 USGS map1940Monroe sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Monroe.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Monroe

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Monroe Presbyterian Church
Monroe Presbyterian ChurchSoren Simonsen HouseMonroe City Hall, built 1934
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
Vernacular1
Colonial Revival1
Monroe Presbyterian ChurchGothic Revival
Soren Simonsen HouseVernacular
Monroe City HallColonial Revival · Built 1934

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Monroe

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Morgan WhiteAmerican actor · b. 1924
G
Glen H. TurnerAmerican artist · b. 1918

Questions about Monroe’s history

What year was Monroe founded?

In 1864, according to Wikidata. Monroe’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 744 people here.

How does Monroe rank for history?

Monroe is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #22 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 Monroe?

Three places: the Monroe Presbyterian Church (listed 1980), the Soren Simonsen House (1982) and the Monroe City Hall (1985).

How old are the homes in Monroe?

20% of Monroe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (9), Wikidata (1), 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) 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.