On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fort Valley is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. 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 Fort Valley’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 Fort Valley’s 79.5 sits above most of its state (92% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±1.4 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 Fort Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fort Valley is a historical settlement at the base of Mt. Agassiz in Flagstaff, Arizona. It gained its name as a fort that was established to defend against Apache tribes although it was never actually used. Wagon trains migrating from the east came upon Flagstaff and settled here. Many of the old settlements can still be seen today. The primary motivation for this settlement was logging as was true for the rest of Flagstaff. The ponderosa pine forest supplied abundant amounts of timber which were then transported via railroad.
Fort Valley is more historic than 41% 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.
What is on the National Register in Fort Valley?
One place: the USFS Fort Valley Experimental Forest Station Historic District (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Fort Valley?
0.0% of Fort Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2017
2011
