Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Hyland Hotel and the Frederick Issac and Mary M. Jones House. Its Register listings are the Hyland Hotel and the Frederick Issac and Mary M. Jones House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1890.
Monticello dates its founding to 1887 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monticello is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Monticello’s 9.1 sits above most of its state (65% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Monticello’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Monticello’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Monticello.
The Old Spanish Trail trade route passed through the area of Monticello from 1829 into the 1850s.
Monticello was one of the many cities established by Mormon pioneers in the Utah Territory, which became the State of Utah. Farming, ranching, and uranium mining have all played an important role in the economy and history of the town.
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.
BuiltFrederick Issac and Mary M. Jones House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveUntitled photo
In the archiveAbajo mts 012 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012US Highway 191 - Utah
2012Custom Car Abandoned
2010Moonset - Flickr - brewbooks
2004USA Route666 UTEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Monticello. 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 Monticello.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Monticello’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Monticello’s post office has been open since 1890.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1887, according to Wikidata. Monticello’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1890 counted 115 people here.
Monticello is more historic than 48% 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.
Two places: the Hyland Hotel (listed 1994) and the Frederick Issac and Mary M. Jones House (2003).
10% of Monticello’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (14), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
