More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #100 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Roosevelt was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Roosevelt post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Roosevelt’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roosevelt is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #100 of 119 in Utah. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roosevelt’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 Roosevelt’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Roosevelt’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1905, by an act of Congress, the unallotted land of the Ute Indian Reservation was opened to homesteading. Several thousand hopeful 20th-century pioneers congregated in Provo and Grand Junction with the hope of successfully drawing lots for a homestead in a fertile region of the soon-to-be-opened lands. Throughout the fall and winter of 1905–06, the settlers came to the Uinta Basin.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Roosevelt post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Roosevelt rank for history?
Roosevelt is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #100 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.
How old are the homes in Roosevelt?
6% of Roosevelt’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (6), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
2017
2017
2017
2016
2012
