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C+History
History · Orem

Orem dates to 1877, and 22 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #57 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Most of Orem was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 22 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 58 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1890.

1877founded
22on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Orem’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Orem began

When was Orem founded?

1877

Orem dates its founding to 1877 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 435 in 18902020 census: 98,129149 years

How historic is Orem?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Orem’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orem is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #57 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Orem’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.3) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register22 listings, 89 historic buildings, 9.2 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 53%

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 Orem’s 9.2 sits above most of its state (66% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 89 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1877.

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 Orem’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register22 places on the National Register.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Orem, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe Christeele Acres Historic District takes in 58 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

22 listings protect 89 historic buildings

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

places listed
22
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
89
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Olmsted Station Powerhouse
Olmsted Station Powerhouse, built 1904Alexander and Nellie P. Cordner House, built 1909Carter-Terry-Call House, built 1889Cecil I. and Mildred H. Dimick HouseClinger-Booth HouseCordner-Calder HouseDavid and Drusilla Baxter HouseDavis, Joshua HouseJohn S. and Izola Lewis HouseKnight-Finch HouseLars and Christina Olsen House, built 1885McBride-Sims GarageRoy H. and Florence B. Gappmayer HouseWilliam J. and Lizzie Cullimore HouseWilliam James and Edna Cordner HouseAlvin and Grace Washburn House, built 1938George and Temperance Adams HouseLars and Agnes Jensen HouseStewart-Hills HouseTimpanogos Cooperative Marketing Association BuildingLoveless HouseChristeele Acres Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian10
Victorian Eclectic4
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements3
Craftsman3
Modern Movement2
Moderne2
Olmsted Station PowerhouseBuilt 1904
Alexander and Nellie P. Cordner HouseLate Victorian · Built 1909
Carter-Terry-Call HouseLate Victorian · Built 1889
Cecil I. and Mildred H. Dimick HouseModern Movement
Clinger-Booth HouseLate Victorian
Cordner-Calder HouseLate Victorian
David and Drusilla Baxter HouseLate Victorian
Davis, Joshua HouseLate Victorian
All 22 listings
John S. and Izola Lewis HouseBuilding · listed 1998Knight-Finch HouseBuilding · listed 1998Lars and Christina Olsen HouseBuilding · listed 1998McBride-Sims GarageBuilding · listed 1998Roy H. and Florence B. Gappmayer HouseBuilding · listed 1998William J. and Lizzie Cullimore HouseBuilding · listed 1998William James and Edna Cordner HouseBuilding · listed 1998Alvin and Grace Washburn HouseBuilding · listed 1999George and Temperance Adams HouseBuilding · listed 1999Lars and Agnes Jensen HouseBuilding · listed 1999Stewart-Hills HouseBuilding · listed 2004Timpanogos Cooperative Marketing Association BuildingBuilding · listed 2008Loveless HouseBuilding · listed 2010Christeele Acres Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1999

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

Help out

Start Orem’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orem’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 photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewDenver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, P…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Orem’s post office has been open since 1943. Another post office, Sharon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sharon
1898–1902
Orem
1943–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BunkerCurtisGenevaLincolnOlmsteadOrem StationSnowWicks
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Orem
Lake ViewOremTimpanogos Memorial Gardens

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

The story

How Orem came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orem.

Read it all →

At one time the area was known as Sharon, a Biblical name for a mostly level strip of land running between mountains and the sea, and the name of the Vermont birth town of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Another former name was Provo Bench, as it was a geographical bench north of Provo.

Unlike many other early Utah communities, Orem's houses were not originally clustered in a town composed of regular city blocks. Instead, Orem's farmers dispersed their homes, building them along the territorial highway (now called State Street) and other major roads so that they could be close to both transportation corridors and to their fields and orchards.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orem, 1877 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877
    FoundingOrem is established
  3. 1885BuiltLars and Christina Olsen House is built
  4. 1889BuiltCarter-Terry-Call House is built
  5. 1898Post officeThe Sharon post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Sharon post office closes
  8. 1904BuiltOlmsted Station Powerhouse is built
  9. 1909BuiltAlexander and Nellie P. Cordner House is built
  10. 1943Post officeThe Orem post office opens
  11. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1959Born hereBrian Wimmer is born here
  13. 1982Born hereQuinn Allman is born here
  14. 1988Born hereJulianne Hough is born here
  15. 1994Born hereMatt Gay is born here
By decade

Orem, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Provo River Bridge, Spanning Provo RiverDate?Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Provo River Bri…Telluride Power Company, Provo River Bridge, Spanning Provo RiverDate?Telluride Power Company, Provo River Bridge, Spanning…Telluride Power Company, Nunn Hydroelectric Plant, Southeast side of Provo River, 300 feet West of US Route 189Date?Telluride Power Company, Nunn Hydroelectric Plant, So…
Today33 recent
Both fishermen (left) and rafters enjoy the wonders of the Provo River in Provo Canyon, near Orem, Utah2022Both fishermen (left) and rafters enjoy the wonders o…Rafters enjoy a ride down the Provo River in Provo Canyon, near Orem, Utah2022Rafters enjoy a ride down the Provo River in Provo Ca…Looking North West2016Looking North WestLeaf on Grass2016Leaf on GrassHike on mountain2016Hike on mountainGhost bicycle in southeast Orem, Utah, Aug 162016Ghost bicycle in southeast Orem, Utah, Aug 16End of Pine Branch2016End of Pine BranchEast at Cascade Mountain on FrontRunner, Jul 162016East at Cascade Mountain on FrontRunner, Jul 16Dog in disguise (Unsplash)2016Dog in disguise (Unsplash)City Lights of2016City Lights ofChalk Art ART34002016Chalk Art ART3400Business letter boxes in Orem, Utah, Mar 162016Business letter boxes in Orem, Utah, Mar 16DocumentWilkerson Farm in2015Wilkerson Farm inNorth under University Pkwy, Mar 152015North under University Pkwy, Mar 152015-11-03 10 16 13 View from an airplane of the cities of Lehi, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon and Orem, Utah a…20152015-11-03 10 16 13 View from an airplane of the citi…The park before the storm2010The park before the stormThe Berkshire2010The BerkshireSquaw mountain as seen from Central2010Squaw mountain as seen from CentralNight skyscape in2010Night skyscape inMount Timpanogos as seen from central2010Mount Timpanogos as seen from centralMormon Church parking lot2010Mormon Church parking lotMormon Church basketball hoop2010Mormon Church basketball hoopInteresting field2010Interesting fieldCool tree2010Cool treeCool shed2010Cool shedCool old shed2010Cool old shedCloudy day in2010Cloudy day inLight pollution It's not pretty2009Light pollution It's not prettyOrem Public Works2008Orem Public WorksLight pollution country versus city2007Light pollution country versus cityContinental Rust - Flickr - wickenden2006Continental Rust - Flickr - wickendenOld Timer - Flickr - a4gpa2005Old Timer - Flickr - a4gpa10 newest (2489562465) (2)200510 newest (2489562465) (2)
On the map

Orem on the map, 1948 to 1994

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

Orem on the 1948 USGS mapOrem on the 1950 USGS mapOrem on the 1969 USGS mapOrem on the 1975 USGS mapOrem on the 1994 USGS map1948Orem 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 Orem.

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.

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Provo River Bridge, Spanning Provo River
Retake this viewDenver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Provo River Bridge, Spanning Provo River

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Orem, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000190019201940196019802000202098,129

Grew from 435 people in 1890 to 98,129 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Orem

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Julianne HoughAmerican dancer, choreographer, actress, singer… · b. 1988
Quinn AllmanAmerican guitarist · b. 1982
Matt GayAmerican football player · b. 1994
B
Brian WimmerAmerican actor · b. 1959
Erin ThornAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1981
T
Tai WesleyAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Provo40 historic placesA−VineyardIts storyDLindon1 historic placeC

Questions about Orem’s history

What year was Orem founded?

In 1877, according to Wikidata. Orem’s post office opened in 1898, and the census of 1890 counted 435 people here.

How does Orem rank for history?

Orem is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #57 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 Orem?

22 listings: 21 buildings, among them the Olmsted Station Powerhouse (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Christeele Acres Historic District, with 58 contributing buildings. 89 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Orem?

1% of Orem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1989.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (31), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (22), 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) 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.