Most of Fredonia was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fredonia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fredonia is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fredonia’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 Fredonia’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 range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1885.
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 Fredonia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fredonia was laid out in 1886. Its name is said to mean the "land of free women."
The town suffered economically from the re-routing of U.S. 89 in 1960. While the highway previously went through Fredonia, it was re-routed north of the Glen Canyon dam, and the town lost several businesses due to a drop in traffic.
Senator Barry Goldwater gave the commencement at Fredonia High School in 1964.
Kaibab Forest Products was the major industry in town until 1995, when it closed and laid off 200 workers. It had employed up to 400 workers in 1988. The Arizona One mine is also located nearby.
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.
In 1885, according to Wikidata. Fredonia’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1960 counted 643 people here.
How does Fredonia rank for history?
Fredonia is more historic than 15% 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 Fredonia?
1% of Fredonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (17), Wikipedia, 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.
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