Altamont, UT

Altamont had 239 residents in 2020 and grew around the need for a high school in Duchesne County’s Upper Country. Altonah and Mount Emmons joined with Talmage, Mountain Home, Boneta, and Bluebell to build a school for students who otherwise had to travel to Roosevelt. The school was completed in 1935, and student Clarence Snyder created the name Altamont by combining “Alt” from Altonah with “mont” from Mount Emmons. The school gave the settlement its name and its first real center.

Altamont’s post office opened in January 1953, and thirty-four qualified voters petitioned that same month to incorporate. The county approved the town in May, making Altamont the second incorporated town in Duchesne County. A store had opened in 1951, followed by an elementary school, LDS chapel, and stake center in 1966, then a bank branch in 1974. Altamont High School and Altamont Elementary remain the town’s most recognizable institutions, set against a cold semi-arid landscape of long winters, warm summers, and open high-country roads.