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C+History
History · Spanish Fork

Spanish Fork dates to 1851, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #56 of 119 in Utah. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Most of Spanish Fork was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1860.

1851founded
4on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Spanish Fork’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Spanish Fork began, and where its name came from

When was Spanish Fork founded?

1851

Spanish Fork dates its founding to 1851 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 773 in 18602020 census: 42,602175 years

How did Spanish Fork get its name?

Spanish Fork’s name derives from a visit to the area by two Franciscan friars from Spain, Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez in 1776, who followed the stream down Spanish Fork canyon with the objective of opening a new trail from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Spanish missions in California, along a route later followed by fur trappers.

How historic is Spanish Fork?

C+

More historic than 39% 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: 1856. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Spanish Fork’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spanish Fork is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #56 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 Spanish Fork’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±1.0) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register4 listings, 14 historic buildings, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical UT town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
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 Spanish Fork’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1851.

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 Spanish Fork’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersLucky Blue Smith, Spencer Fano and 11 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spanish Fork’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPOWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORT…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 listings protect 14 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Spanish Fork High School Gymnasium
Spanish Fork High School Gymnasium, built 1935David H. Jones House, built 1912Thompson Family FarmsteadThurber School
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Art Deco1
Craftsman1
Bungalow1
Spanish Fork High School GymnasiumArt Deco · Built 1935
David H. Jones HouseCraftsman · Built 1912
All 4 listings
Thompson Family FarmsteadDistrict · listed 2023Thurber SchoolBuilding · listed 2024

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

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Spanish Fork

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

See all →
Lucky Blue SmithAmerican model · b. 1998
S
Spencer FanoAmerican football player · b. 2004
Ab JenkinsAt the time of his death established more world… · b. 1883
E
Eldon A. MoneyAmerican politician · b. 1930
J
Jaren HallAmerican football player · b. 1998
J
Jennie B. KnightAmerican missionary · b. 1875
The story

How Spanish Fork came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spanish Fork.

Read it all →

Spanish Fork was settled in 1851 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of the Mormon Pioneers' settlement of Utah Territory. Its name derives from a visit to the area by two Franciscan friars from Spain, Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez in 1776, who followed the stream down Spanish Fork canyon with the objective of opening a new trail from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Spanish missions in California, along a route later followed by fur trappers. They described the area inhabited by Native Americans as having "spreading meadows, where there is sufficient irrigable land for two good settlements.... Over and above these finest of advantages, it has plenty of firewood and timber in the adjacent sierra which surrounds it—many sheltered spots, waters, and pasturages, for raising cattle and sheep and horses."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spanish Fork, 1851 to 2004

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851
    FoundingSpanish Fork is established
  3. 1856Post officeThe Spanish Fork post office opens
  4. 1883Born hereAb Jenkins is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912BuiltDavid H. Jones House is built
  7. 1930Born hereEldon A. Money is born here
  8. 1935BuiltSpanish Fork High School Gymnasium is built
  9. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1968In the archivePOWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Strawberry Valley Project, Payson, Utah C…
  11. 1985In the archiveA heroic bronze monument honoring Padres Dominguez and Escalante, at
  12. 1998Born hereLucky Blue Smith is born here
  13. 21st century
  14. 2004Born hereSpencer Fano is born here
By decade

Spanish Fork, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s–1980s4 items
POWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Strawberry Valley Project, Payson, Utah County, UT1968POWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Straw…POWER CANAL, COMPLETED FOREBAY, CA. 1908. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Strawberry Valley Project, Payson, Utah County, UT1968POWER CANAL, COMPLETED FOREBAY, CA. 1908. VIEW TO NOR…SPANISH FORK DIVERSION STRUCTURE, GENERAL VIEW OF COMPLETED WORKS AND GATEKEEPERS HOUSE, CA. 1909. VIEW TO SOUTHEAST. -…1968SPANISH FORK DIVERSION STRUCTURE, GENERAL VIEW OF COM…A heroic bronze monument honoring Padres Dominguez and Escalante, at1985A heroic bronze monument honoring Padres Dominguez an…
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
Today14 recent
Spanish Fork City Police vehicle, Utah2015Spanish Fork City Police vehicle, UtahSouthwest at Powerhouse Rd bridge over Spanish Fork River, Jul 152015Southwest at Powerhouse Rd bridge over Spanish Fork R…Northwest at Spanish Oaks Golf Course from Dripping Rock Tail, Jyl2015Northwest at Spanish Oaks Golf Course from Dripping R…North down Spanish Fork river, near Dripping Rock, Jul 152015North down Spanish Fork river, near Dripping Rock, Ju…Janmastami2015JanmastamiGraffiti under Powerhouse Road bridge, Spanish Fork, Utah, Jul 152015Graffiti under Powerhouse Road bridge, Spanish Fork, …Graffiti rock along Dripping Rock Trail, Jul 152015Graffiti rock along Dripping Rock Trail, Jul 15Dripping Rock along Spanish Fork river, Jul 152015Dripping Rock along Spanish Fork river, Jul 15Canyon View RV Park sign in Spanish Fork, Utah, Jul 152015Canyon View RV Park sign in Spanish Fork, Utah, Jul 15Bridge on Spanish Fork River Trail, Jul 152015Bridge on Spanish Fork River Trail, Jul 15Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple near Spanish Fork, Utah 20122012Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple near Spanish…Spanish Fork, Utah2010Spanish Fork, UtahBird32009Bird3SpanishForkCitySeal2000SpanishForkCitySeal
On the map

Spanish Fork on the map, 1948 to 1994

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

Spanish Fork on the 1948 USGS mapSpanish Fork on the 1950 USGS mapSpanish Fork on the 1969 USGS mapSpanish Fork on the 1975 USGS mapSpanish Fork on the 1994 USGS map1948Spanish Fork 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 Spanish Fork.

Every building

Spanish Fork, building by building, 1890–1908

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Spanish Fork fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

POWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Strawberry Valley Project, Payson, Utah County, UT
Retake this viewPOWER CANAL FOREBAY, 1982. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Strawberry Valley Project, Payson, Utah County, UT, 1968

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Spanish Fork, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00019001950200042,602

Grew from 773 people in 1860 to 42,602 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Spanish Fork’s post office has been open since 1856.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sutro
1cemetery inside Spanish Fork
Spanish Fork City

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Springville27 historic placesBPalmyraIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMapleton1 historic placeCSalem1 historic placeC

Questions about Spanish Fork’s history

What year was Spanish Fork founded?

In 1851, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Spanish Fork’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1860 counted 773 people here.

How does Spanish Fork rank for history?

Spanish Fork is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #56 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 Spanish Fork?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Spanish Fork High School Gymnasium (listed 1985, the first), and 1 historic district, the Thompson Family Farmstead, with 11 contributing buildings. 14 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Spanish Fork?

4% of Spanish Fork’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2001.

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 (18), 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), 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.