Plain City dates to 1859, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #69 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Its Register listings are the William D. Skeen House and the George Walter Jr. and Isabelle Bramwell House. Most of Plain City was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Its Register listings are the William D. Skeen House and the George Walter Jr. and Isabelle Bramwell House. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Plain City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plain City is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #69 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 Plain City’s overall grade.
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 Plain City’s 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1859.
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 Plain City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Salt Lake Valley settlement began when wagon trains of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began arriving in 1847. By 1858, farmers from the then-settled towns of Lehi and Kay's Creek, looking for a new place to homestead, began considering the area now known as Plain City. On 17 March 1859, led by Lorin Farr, a group arrived to begin homesteading. Soon after arriving, the group surveyed a townsite and assigned building lots. The town layout used an organized grid system of blocks and streets, originally six blocks north-to-south and three blocks east-to-west. Each block was 5 acres (20,000 m2) in area, divided into 4 lots. The first settlers were allowed their choice in the selection of a lot.
In 1859, according to Wikidata. Plain City’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1870 counted 440 people here.
How does Plain City rank for history?
Plain City is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #69 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 Plain City?
Two places: the William D. Skeen House (listed 1982) and the George Walter Jr. and Isabelle Bramwell House (2024).
How old are the homes in Plain City?
2% of Plain City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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