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DHistory
History · Roy

Roy dates to 1873

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #95 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Most of Roy was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1900.

1873founded
0on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Roy’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Roy began

When was Roy founded?

1873

Roy dates its founding to 1873 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 183 in 19002020 census: 39,306153 years

How historic is Roy?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Roy’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roy is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #95 of 119 in Utah. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roy’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.5) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical UT town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 20%

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 Roy’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1873.

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 Roy’s past

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

Lost villages87 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Roy’s post office has been open since 1894.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Aland of HoneyAllredApple EstatesArsenal VillaArthur Jones EstateBartonBay View ParkBel AirBerrettBrownscott ManorBurmont ParkCarriage Lane Number TwoCarriage PlaceCedar RidgeCedar Ridge Number TowCountry LaneCountry MeadowsCountry ParkCoyCozydaleDonitaEl Centro EstatesElta GlenEnglish Manor
1cemetery inside Roy
Roy City

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

Help out

Start Roy’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMa's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Roy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roy.

Read it all →

Roy was settled in 1873 by William Evans Baker, Esther Celestia Cole Baker, and their children, 25 years after the creation of nearby Ogden. Most of the communities to the east and south had already been settled. Previously known as Central City, Sandridge, the Basin, and Lakeview, Roy was ultimately named for a local schoolteacher's child, Roy C. Peebles, who had died. On May 24, 1894, a post office was established and Roy's name was made official. The City of Roy was incorporated on March 10, 1937. Joseph William Jensen was Roy's first mayor, elected by the commissioners and serving for six years.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Roy, 1873 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873
    FoundingRoy is established
  3. 1894Post officeThe Roy post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930In the archiveMa's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast to coast, on U.S. 91 (Salt Lake - Ogden Highway),…
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Roy, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Ma's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast to coast, on U.S. 91 (Salt Lake - Ogden Highway), Roy, Utah. The first Ma's and…c. 1930Ma's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast to coast, on …
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Roy Utah First Post Office2024Roy Utah First Post OfficeRiverdale exit2018Riverdale exitOgden-SLC2018Ogden-SLCHill AFB frontage2018Hill AFB frontage
On the map

Roy on the map, 1955 to 1990

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

Roy on the 1955 USGS mapRoy on the 1969 USGS mapRoy on the 1975 USGS mapRoy on the 1990 USGS map1955Roy 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 Roy.

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.

Ma's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast to coast, on U.S. 91 (Salt Lake - Ogden Highway), Roy, Utah. The first Ma's and…
Retake this viewMa's and Pa's Place -- Known from coast to coast, on U.S. 91 (Salt Lake - Ogden Highway), Roy, Utah. The first Ma's and…, c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Roy, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,000190019201940196019802000202039,306

Grew from 183 people in 1900 to 39,306 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

RiverdaleIts storyC−West HavenIts storyD−Hooper1 historic placeCOgden63 historic placesAClintonIts storyD

Questions about Roy’s history

What year was Roy founded?

In 1873, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Roy’s post office opened in 1894, and the census of 1900 counted 183 people here.

How does Roy rank for history?

Roy is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Roy?

0.8% of Roy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (5), 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.