The story
Read it all →How Mountain View came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Mountain View.
Mountain View was founded in 1891, and is located near Fort Bridger.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Mountain View
Mountain View’s post office opened in 1891
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Mountain View was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1980.
1891first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Mountain View began
When was Mountain View founded?
1891
The Mountain View post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 628 in 19802020 census: 1,278135 years
How historic is Mountain View?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Mountain View post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mountain View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mountain View is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mountain View’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.4% of homes (±4.3) · typical WY town 12.0% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WY town 25.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Wyoming towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wyoming town has 25.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Mountain View’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Wyoming 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 range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Mountain View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Mountain View’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mountain View’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Mountain View on the map, 1964 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mountain View. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964Mountain View sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mountain View.
People over time
Mountain View, census by census
Between 628 and 1,286 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mountain View’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Mountain View
Nobody well known was born in Mountain View itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
K
Kirby HeyborneAmerican actor · b. 1976
W
Wendy Davis SchulerAmerican politician and educatorQuestions about Mountain View’s history
What year was Mountain View founded?
The Mountain View post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mountain View rank for history?
Mountain View is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. 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 Mountain View?
3% of Mountain View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wyoming town; the median home was built in 1983.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.