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History · Whiterocks

Whiterocks dates to 1868

Most of Whiterocks was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1910.

1868founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Whiterocks’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Whiterocks began

When was Whiterocks founded?

1868

Whiterocks dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 1,349 in 19102020 census: 221158 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓

What stands out about Whiterocks’ past

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

On the map since 19173 editions of the USGS map, 1917 to 1980. Watch Whiterocks change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Whiterocks on the map, 1917 to 1980

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

Whiterocks on the 1917 USGS mapWhiterocks on the 1964 USGS mapWhiterocks on the 1980 USGS map1917Vernal sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Whiterocks came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Whiterocks.

Read it all →

1828 Four French traders from Kentucky -- William "Toopeechee" Reed, Jim Reed, Dennis Julien, and Augustus Archambeaux -- entered the Uintah Basin and set up a trading post near a spring of water just south and east of the present settlement of Whiterocks. The site was at a junction of trails used by the local Ute people. They brought in the first butcher knives, coffee beans, and other articles traded to the locals for fur. Antoine Robidoux (or Rubidoux) purchased the enterprise in 1832 and built a larger "fort" just east of the post named Fort Robidoux (or Fort Uinta). In 1844, Utes burned the trading post to the ground and it was not rebuilt.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Whiterocks, 1850 to 1917

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-9, ED 24-10,…
  3. 1868
    FoundingWhiterocks is established
  4. 1879Post officeThe White Rocks post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1917On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Whiterocks, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-9, ED 24-10, ED 24-11, ED 24-12, ED 24-13,…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah …
Date unknown4 to date
Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, U.S. Whiterocks Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UTDate?Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, U.S. Whiterocks…Irrigation Canals in the Uinta BasinDate?Irrigation Canals in the Uinta BasinIrrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UTDate?Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Duchesne, Duche…Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Deep Creek Canal, Duchesne, Duchesne County, UTDate?Irrigation Canals in the Uinta Basin, Deep Creek Cana…
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-9, ED 24-10, ED 24-11, ED 24-12, ED 24-13,…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Utah - Uintah County - ED 24-9, ED 24-10, ED 24-11, ED 24-12, ED 24-13,…, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Whiterocks, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,349

Between 221 and 1,349 people in every census since 1910.

9 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Whiterocks

Nobody well known was born in Whiterocks itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
James WoodsAmerican actor · b. 1947
Laraine DayAmerican actress · b. 1920
Clair BurgenerAmerican politician · b. 1921
E
Earl W. BascomAmerican artist · b. 1906
R
Rod DanaAmerican actor · b. 1934
Danny LopezAmerican boxer · b. 1952
Help out

Start Whiterocks’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whiterocks’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 photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Whiterocks’ history

What year was Whiterocks founded?

In 1868, according to Wikidata. Whiterocks’ post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1910 counted 1,349 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4), 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.