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Ophir, Utah December 2007Photo: David Jolley · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Ophir

3 of Ophir’s places are on the National Register

Its Register listings are the Ophir Town Hall, the Lawrence Brothers and Company Store and the Reddick Hotel-Ophir LDS Meetinghouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1890.

3on the National Register
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ophir’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Ophir’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 522 in 1920; 24 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ophir’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTown Hall, 43 Main Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Ophir, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 522

Peaked at 522 in 1920; 24 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Ophir came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ophir.

Read it all →

Ophir was named for the nearby canyon and mining district, where gold, silver-lead deposits were found in the 1860s. The mining district was named for the biblical Ophir, from where King Solomon brought back gold to Israel. In 1911, zinc was recovered and various mining operations continued until 1959.

Prior to 2016, Ophir was one of the smallest incorporated municipalities in Utah. However, after a town government could not be formed from the remaining citizens in 2016, the town was disincorporated.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ophir, 1870 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870BuiltOphir Town Hall is built
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904BuiltReddick Hotel-Ophir LDS Meetinghouse is built
  5. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 522
By decade

Ophir, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Town Hall, 43 Main StreetDate?Town Hall, 43 Main StreetDeLamar Mercur Mines Company, Golden Gate MillDate?DeLamar Mercur Mines Company, Golden Gate Mill
Today2 recent
Reddick Hotel2016Reddick HotelOphir, Utah December 20072014Ophir, Utah December 2007
On the map

Ophir on the map in 1918

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ophir.

Ophir on the 1918 USGS map1918Stockton 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 Ophir.

Every building

Ophir, building by building, 1917–1922

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.

Ophir fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Town Hall, 43 Main Street
Retake this viewTown Hall, 43 Main Street

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ophir’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Ophir

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Ophir Town Hall
Ophir Town Hall, built 1870Lawrence Brothers and Company StoreReddick Hotel-Ophir LDS Meetinghouse, built 1904
Buildings
Ophir Town HallBuilt 1870
Lawrence Brothers and Company StoreBuilding
Reddick Hotel-Ophir LDS MeetinghouseBuilt 1904

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ophir

Nobody well known was born in Ophir itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Daniel Wayne SermónAmerican musician, songwriter, and record produ… · b. 1984
Gary HerbertAmerican politician · b. 1947
Don L. LindAmerican astronaut · b. 1930
W
Wayne C. BoothAmerican academic · b. 1921
Gene FullmerAmerican boxer · b. 1931
Dick MottaAmerican basketball coach · b. 1931

Questions about Ophir’s history

What is on the National Register in Ophir?

Three places: the Ophir Town Hall (listed 1983), the Lawrence Brothers and Company Store (2013) and the Reddick Hotel-Ophir LDS Meetinghouse (2016).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.