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History · White Mesa

Half of White Mesa’s homes were built after 1982

Most of White Mesa was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1962 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Steven Baltakatei Sandoval · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about White Mesa’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of White Mesa are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Mesa’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

White Mesa, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of White Mesa yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

White Mesa is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 178 at the 2020 census. It is located within a section of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe reservation along U.S. Route 191, south of Blanding and north of Bluff.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 242 to 178 (-26%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

White Mesa, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Ute Mountain Tribe White Mesa, Utah, sign closeup, February 20192019Ute Mountain Tribe White Mesa, Utah, sign closeup, Fe…US Highway 191 - Utah2012US Highway 191 - UtahUS Highway 191 - Utah2012US Highway 191 - UtahUS Highway 191 - Utah2012US Highway 191 - UtahUS Highway 191 - Utah2012US Highway 191 - UtahUTMap-doton-WhiteMesa2004UTMap-doton-WhiteMesa
On the map

White Mesa on the map, 1962 to 1989

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

White Mesa on the 1962 USGS mapWhite Mesa on the 1989 USGS map1962Montezuma Creek sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of White Mesa.

Questions about White Mesa’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.