Mount Pleasant dates to 1852, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #5 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 53 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Pleasant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Pleasant is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #5 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Pleasant’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 Mount Pleasant’s 197 sits above most of its state (94% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 75 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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 (±6.4 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 Mount Pleasant’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the spring of 1852, Latter-Day Saint colonists from Manti led by Madison D. Hambleton established the Hambleton Settlement near the present site of Mt. Pleasant. During the Wakara War, the settlers relocated to Spring Town (Spring City), and later to Manti for protection. Local Native Americans destroyed the old settlement by setting it on fire. A large colonizing party from Ephraim and Manti returned to the area in 1859, and a permanent site was laid out in its present location.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Pleasant. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Mount Pleasant sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mount Pleasant.
Every building
Mount Pleasant, building by building, 1892–1908
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Mount Pleasant’s post office has been open since 1864.
Gone or out of use
Mount Pleasant Airportairport
1cemetery inside Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant City
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Mount Pleasant’s history
What year was Mount Pleasant founded?
In 1852, according to Wikidata. Mount Pleasant’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1860 counted 746 people here.
How does Mount Pleasant rank for history?
Mount Pleasant is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #5 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 Mount Pleasant?
16 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Morten Rasmussen House (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Wasatch Academy and the Mount Pleasant Commercial Historic District, with 53 contributing buildings. 75 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mount Pleasant?
28% of Mount Pleasant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (11), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.
1910
2006
2006
