Flagstaff dates to 1876, and 37 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #24 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Flagstaff was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. 37 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Lowell Observatory, a National Historic Landmark, and six historic districts with 293 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Flagstaff’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Flagstaff is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #24 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Flagstaff’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 Flagstaff’s 44.0 sits above most of its state (87% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 336 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1876.
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 Flagstaff’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Flagstaff’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Greenlaw, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Flagstaff
1881–today
Greenlaw
1903–1904
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Arrowhead Village Mobile Home ParkCameo Mobile Home ParkCanyon View Mobile Home ParkCogdill CenterColony Mobile EstatesEast FlagstaffJo Don Mobile Home ParkWildwood Hills Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Thomas R Weitzel Elementary Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Flagstaff
CalvaryCitizensPeaceful Valley Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Sinagua people were a pre-Columbian culture that occupied a large area in Arizona between c. 500 and 1425 CE. The Northern Sinagua were living in the pine forests of northern Arizona before moving into the area that is now Flagstaff about 700 CE. The 1064 and 1066 eruptions of Sunset Crater covered the area in ash, which greatly enriched the soil for farming; this also caused a population growth in the area, with Ancestral Puebloans and Cohonina people also moving to the Wupatki site near the city.
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 Flagstaff. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Flagstaff West sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Flagstaff.
Every building
Flagstaff, building by building, 1890–1916
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.
In 1876, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Flagstaff’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1890 counted 964 people here.
How does Flagstaff rank for history?
Flagstaff is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #24 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 Flagstaff?
37 listings: 30 buildings, among them the Lowell Observatory (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), 6 historic districts with 293 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 336 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Flagstaff?
2% of Flagstaff’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (37), 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.
★ Landmark
1887
1888
1906
1906
1906
1908
