Half of Flowing Wells’ homes were built after 1980
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #103 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Flowing Wells was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Flowing Wells is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #103 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Flowing Wells’ 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 Flowing Wells’ 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Flowing Wells’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Another post office, Jaynes, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Acacia Gardens Mobile Home ParkCactus Cove Mobile Home ParkCarefree Village Mobile Home ParkCarousel Ranch Mobile Home ParkDesert Sun Desert Winds Mobile Home ParkDiamond Grove Estates Mobile Home ParkEl Frontier Mobile Home ParkGardner EstatesGardner Mobile Home EstatesGreen Acres Mobile Home ParkHinsons Mobile Home ParkJaynesLa Colonia Mobile Home ParkLeisure Village Mobile Home ParkPalm Vista Estates Mobile Home ParkPueblo Springs Mobile Home EstatesSanta Catalina Mobile Home ParkShannon Trees Mobile Home ParkSilver Cholla Mobile ParkSwan Lake Estates Mobile Home ParkValle Vista Mobile Home ParkVilla Capri Mobile Home Park Phase I
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Flowing Wells’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Flowing Wells’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Flowing Wells yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Flowing Wells is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Tucson. The population was 16,419 at the 2010 census. The Flowing Wells community was given an All-America City Award by the National Civic League in 2007.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 16,419 to 15,657 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Flowing Wells, 1922 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Flowing Wells. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Cortaro 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 Flowing Wells.
People over time
Flowing Wells, census by census
Between 14,013 and 16,419 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Flowing Wells’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Flowing Wells
Nobody well known was born in Flowing Wells itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Flowing Wells is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #103 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 Flowing Wells?
0.2% of Flowing Wells’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 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.
