The Bouse post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Brayton (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 707119 years
How historic is Bouse?
D
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bouse post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Bouse’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bouse is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bouse’s overall grade.
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 Bouse’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Bouse’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bouse yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bouse ( BOWSS rhymes with "house") is a census-designated place (CDP) and ghost town in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1908 as a mining camp, the economy of Bouse is now based on tourism, agriculture, and retirees. The population was 996 at the 2010 census. It was originally named Brayton after the store owner John Brayton Martin.
Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 996 to 707 (-29%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bouse, 1906 to 1907
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Bouse post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bouse rank for history?
Bouse is more historic than 7% 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 Bouse?
1% of Bouse’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (2), 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.
2021
2017