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D−History
History · Apache Junction

Apache Junction’s post office opened in 1950

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #129 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Apache Junction was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1970.

1950first post office
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Apache Junction’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Apache Junction began

When was Apache Junction founded?

1950

The Apache Junction post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1978.

First census: 2,390 in 19702020 census: 38,49976 years

How historic is Apache Junction?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Apache Junction post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1978.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Apache Junction’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Apache Junction is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #129 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Apache Junction’s overall grade.
Founding era1950, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.3) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical AZ town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 8%

Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Apache Junction’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Arizona 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 D. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1978 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Apache Junction’s past

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

Lost villages38 hamlets and corners are still on the map.On the map since 19045 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 2004. Watch Apache Junction change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners

Apache Junction’s post office has been open since 1950.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Acacia Villa Mobile Home ParkApache Gardens Mobile Home ParkApache Junction Mobile Homes ParkApache Mountain Shadows Trailer RanchApache Skies Mobile Home ParkBaywood Mobile ParkBoardwalk Estates Mobile Home ParkCactus Gardens Mobile Home ParkChaparral Mobile RanchDesert Harbor Mobile Home ParkDesert Park Mobile Home ParkDolce Vita at Superstition Mountain Mobile Home ParkEl Dorado Mobile Estates ResortHusky Hollow Mobile Home ParkKlahanne Mobile Home ParkLa Casa Blanca Mobile Home ParkLamplighter Mobile VillageMeridian Manufactured Home ParkMeridiancheri Mobile Home ParkMountain Vista Mobile Home ParkOasis Junction Mobile Home ParkPalm SpringsPalms Mobile Home ParkPalo Verde Hills Mobile Park

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

On the map

Apache Junction on the map, 1904 to 2004

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

Apache Junction on the 1904 USGS mapApache Junction on the 1956 USGS mapApache Junction on the 1971 USGS mapApache Junction on the 1982 USGS mapApache Junction on the 2004 USGS map1904Desert Well 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 Apache Junction.

The story

How Apache Junction came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Apache Junction.

Read it all →

The location became a historical landmark. It is part of a scenic byway that was opened to the public in 1922 and is currently part of a 120-mile-long (190 km) "circle trail" that begins and ends in Apache Junction. The O'odham Jeweḍ, Akimel O'odham (Upper Pima), and Hohokam people all have tribal ties to the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Apache Junction, 1904 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1940In the archiveFigure of Indian made of papier mache
  4. 1950Post officeThe Apache Junction post office opens
  5. 1973In the archiveAERIAL SHOT OF APACHE JUNCTION-RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SUBURB OF PHOENIX
By decade

Apache Junction, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Figure of Indian made of papier mache1940Figure of Indian made of papier macheZoo designed to attract tourists at Apache Junction, Arizona. Arizona is developing fast as a tourist state1940Zoo designed to attract tourists at Apache Junction, …Figure of a miner and his donkey made of papier mache1940Figure of a miner and his donkey made of papier macheGroup of figures made of papier mache which attract passing tourists at Apache Junction, Arizona. These three figures w…1940Group of figures made of papier mache which attract p…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Group of figures made of papier mache which attract passing tourists at Apache Jun…1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Group of figures…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Group of figures made of papier mache which attract passing tourists at Apache Jun…1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Group of figures…
1970s1 item
AERIAL SHOT OF APACHE JUNCTION-RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SUBURB OF PHOENIX1973AERIAL SHOT OF APACHE JUNCTION-RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SUB…
1980s–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
Today11 recent
US Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaSnow Covered Superstition Mountains2010Snow Covered Superstition MountainsIronwood Road Bridge over the CAP Canal2010Ironwood Road Bridge over the CAP CanalCows on the Upstream Side of Powerline FRS2010Cows on the Upstream Side of Powerline FRSSuperstitionViewTrail2009SuperstitionViewTrailSuperstitious Mountains Museum and Apache Junction Church AZ2008Superstitious Mountains Museum and Apache Junction Ch…Another View of Apache Junction from the Superstition Mountain Cave2008Another View of Apache Junction from the Superstition…A View of Apache Junction from the Superstition Mountain Cave2008A View of Apache Junction from the Superstition Mount…
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.

Figure of Indian made of papier mache
Retake this viewFigure of Indian made of papier mache, 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Apache Junction, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00019802000202038,499

Grew from 2,390 people in 1970 to 38,499 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Apache Junction

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

See all →
Shawn MichaelsAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1965
Brady CorbetAmerican film director and actor · b. 1988
Troy KotsurAmerican actor · b. 1968
Mike LeeUnited States Senator from Utah · b. 1971
Gabrielle CarterisAmerican actress · b. 1961
Julie ErtzAmerican soccer player · b. 1992
Help out

Finish Apache Junction’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFigure of Indian made of papier mache: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mesa31 historic placesC+Gold CanyonIts storyDQueen Creek1 historic placeD

Questions about Apache Junction’s history

What year was Apache Junction founded?

The Apache Junction post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1978.

How does Apache Junction rank for history?

Apache Junction is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #129 of 140 in Arizona. 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 Apache Junction?

0.5% of Apache Junction’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 (12), the Library of Congress (6), 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.