Casa Grande dates to 1879, and 51 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #29 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Casa Grande was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. 51 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 137 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Casa Grande’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Casa Grande is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #29 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Casa Grande’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 Casa Grande’s 31.4 sits above most of its state (85% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 191 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1879.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Casa Grande’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Casa Grande’s post office has been open since 1880.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BonCasa Grande East Mobile Home ParkCasa Verde Estates Mobile Home ParkCottonwood Cove Mobile Home ParkFiesta Grande Mobile Home ParkLa Posada Trailer ParkRodeo Estates Mobile Home ParkSafari Mobile Home ParkSunny Lane Mobile Home ParkSunwest Resort Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Fye AirstripairportGypsum MinesmineThree Point Airportairport
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Casa Grande was founded in 1879 during the Arizona mining boom due to the presence of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In January 1880, the community of Terminus, meaning "end-of-the-line," was established with just five residents and three buildings. In September 1880, railroad executives renamed the settlement Casa Grande after nearby Hohokam ruins with the same name. Casa Grande grew slowly and suffered several setbacks both in 1886 and 1893 when fires ravaged the town, destroying all wooden housing structures within. When the mining boom slowed in the 1890s, the town was nearly abandoned, but, with the advent of agriculture, the town survived and was incorporated in 1915.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Casa Grande. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Casa Grande 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 Casa Grande.
Every building
Casa Grande, building by building, 1890–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1890Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewCasa Grande. Community building, adobe construction, 1936
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Casa Grande’s page.
In 1879, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Casa Grande’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1880 counted 33 people here.
How does Casa Grande rank for history?
Casa Grande is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #29 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.
What is on the National Register in Casa Grande?
51 listings: 50 buildings, among them the Casa Grande Stone Church (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Evergreen Addition Historic District, with 137 contributing buildings. 191 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Casa Grande?
0.6% of Casa Grande’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (51), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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