Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #3 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
63 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 2,724 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Ogden dates its founding to 1846 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ogden is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #3 of 119 in Utah. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Ogden’s 323 sits above most of its state (97% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 2,820 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Ogden’s post office has been open since 1888. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Ogden.
Originally named Fort Buenaventura, Ogden was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in what is now Utah. It was established by the trapper Miles Goodyear in 1846 about a mile west of where downtown Ogden sits today.
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.
Born hereJohn Browning is born here
In the archiveBridge at OgdenBuiltOgden Union Station is built
In the archive2 illus.)- 1. Across the continent, on the Pacific Railroad - gamblers and gambling-table…
BuiltValasco Farr House is builtBuiltAndrew J. Warner House is built
BuiltScowcroft Warehouse is built
Born hereBrent Scowcroft is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereDonny Osmond is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1868Bridge at Ogden18702 illus.)- 1. Across the continent, on the Pacific Ra…
1870Across the continent, on the Pacific Railroad - gambl…
c. 1870575 MSS P 24 B7 F1
c. 1870516 MSS P 24 B5 F7
1871First camp of the Survey, at
1872Ogden, Weber County, Utah, from the mountains
1872Ogden, Weber County, Utah, from the mountains (Wasatc…
1872Utah - trains of cars of the Union Pacific Railroad s…
1874ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
1874ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORYEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ogden. 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 Ogden.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 17Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Ogden’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 500 people in 1850 to 87,321 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ogden’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1846, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ogden’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1850 counted 500 people here.
Ogden is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #3 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.
63 listings: 56 buildings, among them the Miles Goodyear Cabin (listed 1971, the first), and 7 historic districts with 2,724 contributing buildings. 2,820 historic buildings in all.
19% of Ogden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (63), 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.
