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Monument Valley - The MittensPhoto: Adc0317 · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Oljato-Monument Valley

2 of Oljato-Monument Valley’s places are on the National Register

Its Register listings are the Oljato Trading Post and the Goulding's Trading Post. Most of Oljato-Monument Valley was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1886 on.

2on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Oljato-Monument Valley’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 Oljato-Monument Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18865 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1981. Watch Oljato-Monument Valley change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oljato-Monument Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oljato-Monument Valley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Oljato-Monument Valley on the map, 1886 to 1981

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

Oljato-Monument Valley on the 1886 USGS mapOljato-Monument Valley on the 1892 USGS mapOljato-Monument Valley on the 1956 USGS mapOljato-Monument Valley on the 1960 USGS mapOljato-Monument Valley on the 1981 USGS map1886Henry Mountains sheet · 1:250,000

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

The story so far

Oljato-Monument Valley, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oljato-Monument Valley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Oljato-Monument Valley (Navajo: Ooljééʼtó) is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 682 at the 2020 census. It is the location of Monument Valley.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 674 in 2010, 682 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Oljato-Monument Valley, 1886 to 1921

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Oljato post office opens
  5. 1911Post officeThe Oljato post office closes
  6. 1921BuiltOljato Trading Post is built
By decade

Oljato-Monument Valley, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Oljato Monument Valley, Utah - Rock Door Canyon - panoramio (2)2015Oljato Monument Valley, Utah - Rock Door Canyon - pan…Oljato Monument Valley, Utah - Rock Door Canyon - panoramio (1)2015Oljato Monument Valley, Utah - Rock Door Canyon - pan…Lake Powell drone shot (Unsplash)2015Lake Powell drone shot (Unsplash)Ancient pottery shards2015Ancient pottery shardsCartello Utah con vista Monument Valley - USA - Agosto 20112011Cartello Utah con vista Monument Valley - USA - Agost…UTMap-doton-Oljato-MonumentValley2004UTMap-doton-Oljato-MonumentValley
On the National Register

2 historic places in Oljato-Monument Valley

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Oljato Trading Post
Oljato Trading Post, built 1921Goulding's Trading Post
Buildings
Oljato Trading PostBuilt 1921
Goulding's Trading PostBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Oljato, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
GouldingOljato
Gone or out of use
Oljato AirportairportSkyline Minemine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Oljato-Monument Valley’s history

What is on the National Register in Oljato-Monument Valley?

Two places: the Oljato Trading Post (listed 1980) and the Goulding's Trading Post (1980).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.