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History · Orderville

Orderville’s post office opened in 1875, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Mt. Carmel School and Church and the Dixon, Maynard, and Edith Hamlin House and Studio. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1875first post office
2on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orderville began

When was Orderville founded?

1875

The Orderville post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Winsor (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 514 in 18802020 census: 598151 years
Founding year: the first Orderville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Orderville’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 Orderville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then more than doubled.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Orderville, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orderville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Orderville, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020514 in 1880Low: 289

Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then more than doubled.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Orderville’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, Winsor, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Winsor
1871–1879
Mount Carmel
1872–today
Orderville
1875–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mount CarmelMount Carmel JunctionMount Carmel Trailer ParkTortoise and Hare Trailer Court
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Orderville
Mount CarmelOrderville

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

The story

How Orderville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orderville.

Read it all →

Orderville was established at the direction of LDS Church president Brigham Young in 1875 specifically to live the United Order, a voluntary form of communal living defined by Joseph Smith. Orderville was settled primarily by destitute refugees from failed settlements on the Muddy River in Nevada. When it was settled, Orderville included 335 acres (136 ha) of land and contained 18 houses, 19 oxen, 103 cows, 43 horses, 500 sheep, 30 hogs, 400 chickens, and 30,000 feet of lumber. The settlement began completely debt-free.

ChaptersDistribution of goods and servicesManagementSuccessEconomic Expansion and the End of the Order

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orderville, 1871 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Winsor post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Mount Carmel post office opens
  4. 1875Post officeThe Orderville post office opens
  5. 1879Post officeThe Winsor post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 598
By decade

Orderville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
US Highway 89 - Utah2013US Highway 89 - UtahUS Highway 89 - Utah2013US Highway 89 - UtahCheckerboard Mesa, Zion N.P. UT2013Checkerboard Mesa, Zion N.P. UTDáša na MT CARMEL JUNCTION2009Dáša na MT CARMEL JUNCTIONUntitled photo2007Untitled photoOrderville Utah DUP museum2007Orderville Utah DUP museum
On the map

Orderville on the map, 1958 to 1985

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

Orderville on the 1958 USGS mapOrderville on the 1985 USGS map1958Orderville 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 Orderville.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Orderville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Mt. Carmel School and Church
Mt. Carmel School and ChurchDixon, Maynard, and Edith Hamlin House and Studio
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Classical1
Rustic1
Mt. Carmel School and ChurchVernacular
Dixon, Maynard, and Edith Hamlin House and StudioRustic

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

Questions about Orderville’s history

What year was Orderville founded?

The Orderville post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Orderville?

Two places: the Mt. Carmel School and Church (listed 1987) and the Dixon, Maynard, and Edith Hamlin House and Studio (2002).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.