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CHistory
History · South Jordan

South Jordan dates to 1859, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #70 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

Most of South Jordan was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1940.

1859founded
4on the National Register
0.6%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From South Jordan’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How South Jordan began

When was South Jordan founded?

1859

South Jordan dates its founding to 1859 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 869 in 19402020 census: 77,487167 years

How historic is South Jordan?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1877.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives South Jordan’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Jordan is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #70 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 South Jordan’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.6% of homes (±0.2) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register4 listings, 10 historic buildings, 1.2 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 42%

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 South Jordan’s 1.2 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±0.2 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 South Jordan’s past

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

Lost villages36 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Mystery photos7 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

South Jordan had its own post office from 1877 to 1887.

South Jordan
1877–1887
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ashford AcresBeckstead ParkBonanza AcresBurkhart EstatesChattel EstatesChattel Estates Number FourChattel Number 5Cherry Hill EstatesClover HillsClover RidgeCountry RoadsCounty CoveDaltonDusty Downs EstatesFeatherwood VillageGeorgetown MeadowsGlenmoor Country EstatesHeritage HeightsJordan Hills EstatesLamptonLampton FarmsLawrence EstatesLeavitt AcresMajestic Heights
1cemetery inside South Jordan
South Jordan

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

Help out

Start South Jordan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Jordan’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 photo7 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewRichard M. Fairbourn Farm, 170 West, 11…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 historic places in South Jordan

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Garside-McMullin House
Albert and Celestine Mabey House, built 1898Garside-McMullin House, built 1898Samuel and Geneva Holt Farmstead
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Late Victorian1
Victorian Eclectic1
Albert and Celestine Mabey HouseBuilt 1898
All 4 listings
Garside-McMullin HouseBuilding · listed 1982Samuel and Geneva Holt FarmsteadBuilding · listed 2001Doggy Door Tie Cutter CabinSite · listed 2014

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

The story

How South Jordan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of South Jordan.

Read it all →

The first known inhabitants were members of the Desert Archaic Culture, who were nomadic hunter-gatherers. From around 400 to 1350 AD, the Fremont people settled into villages and farmed corn and squash. Changes in climatic conditions to a cooler, drier period and the movement into the area of ancestors of the Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone, led to the disappearance of the Fremont people. When European settlers arrived, no permanent Native American settlements were in the Salt Lake Valley, but the area bordered several tribes – the territory of the Northwestern Shoshone to the north, the Timpanogots band of the Utes to the south in Utah Valley, and the Goshutes to the west in Tooele Valley.

ChaptersBefore European contactEarly Latter-day Saint settlementTwentieth century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

South Jordan, 1859 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859
    FoundingSouth Jordan is established
  3. 1877Post officeThe South Jordan post office opens
  4. 1879Born hereHyrum G. Smith is born here
  5. 1887Post officeThe South Jordan post office closes
  6. 1898BuiltAlbert and Celestine Mabey House is built
  7. 1898BuiltGarside-McMullin House is built
  8. 20th century
  9. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1993Born hereBrady Lail is born here
  11. 1999Born hereBranden Carlson is born here
  12. 1999Born hereDax Milne is born here
By decade

South Jordan, decade by decade

Date unknown7 to date
Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, 170 West, 11,400 SouthRichard M. Fairbourn Farm, Garage, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Garage, 170 West, 11,400 S…Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Barn, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Barn, 170 West, 11,400 Sou…Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Granary, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Granary, 170 West, 11,400 …Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Horse Barn, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Horse Barn, 170 West, 11,4…Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Chicken Coop, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Chicken Coop, 170 West, 11…Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Equipment Shed, 170 West, 11,400 SouthDate?Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, Equipment Shed, 170 West, …
Today14 recent
South Jordan UT 20252025South Jordan UT 2025Daybreak Housing Community2023Daybreak Housing CommunityRotating searchlights2018Rotating searchlightsBedroom with marine puzzles on wall2018Bedroom with marine puzzles on wallSouth Jordan police car, Sep 172017South Jordan police car, Sep 17Salt Lake County Fairgounds, Aug 172017Salt Lake County Fairgounds, Aug 17Northeast over Salt Lake Valley, May 172017Northeast over Salt Lake Valley, May 17Bingham High School Crest HD2016Bingham High School Crest HDSunset Over Oquirrh Lake In Daybreak Utah2015Sunset Over Oquirrh Lake In Daybreak UtahSouth Jordan Station clock2015South Jordan Station clockSouth Jordan and Foot of Oquirrah Mountains2014South Jordan and Foot of Oquirrah MountainsSouth Jordan, Utah2012South Jordan, UtahAnother view of the sunset over2009Another view of the sunset overOquirrh Lake at sunrise2008Oquirrh Lake at sunrise
On the map

South Jordan on the map, 1951 to 1999

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

South Jordan on the 1951 USGS mapSouth Jordan on the 1963 USGS mapSouth Jordan on the 1975 USGS mapSouth Jordan on the 1999 USGS map1951Midvale 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 South Jordan.

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.

Richard M. Fairbourn Farm, 170 West, 11,400 South
Retake this viewRichard M. Fairbourn Farm, 170 West, 11,400 South

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

South Jordan, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,0001940196019802000202077,487

Grew from 869 people in 1940 to 77,487 in 2020, more than tenfold.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in South Jordan

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

See all →
Branden CarlsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1999
Dax MilneAmerican football wide receiver · b. 1999
Hyrum G. SmithAmerican Mormon leader · b. 1879
Brady LailAmerican baseball player · b. 1993
Francis BernardAmerican football player · b. 1995
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Riverton4 historic placesCDraper17 historic placesB−HerrimanIts storyDWest Jordan3 historic placesC+Sandy55 historic placesB−

Questions about South Jordan’s history

What year was South Jordan founded?

In 1859, according to Wikidata. South Jordan’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1940 counted 869 people here.

How does South Jordan rank for history?

South Jordan is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #70 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 South Jordan?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Garside-McMullin House (listed 1982, the first), and 1 site. 10 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in South Jordan?

0.6% of South Jordan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2007.

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 (14), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.