Most of Gila Bend was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Stout's Hotel and the Gila Bend Overpass. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gila Bend’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gila Bend is more historic than 29% 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 Gila Bend’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 Gila Bend’s 14.7 sits above most of its state (80% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1872.
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 Gila Bend’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Gila Bend is situated near an ancient Hohokam village. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino was the first European to visit, arriving in 1699 on his first journey of exploration to the Colorado River. The Hohokam site along the fertile banks of the Gila River had been abandoned, and other tribes lived in the vicinity. 132 Pima people lived in a ranchería called Oyadaibuc, or as Kino named it San Felipe y Santiago del Oyadaibuc, near the modern town, and other Pima lived in three rancherias up river to the north mixed with the Cocomaricopa or Opa. During one of his three visits to Gila Bend, Kino counted 960 Opas living in their own rancherias down river to the west of Oyadaibuc as far as a few miles beyond Agua Caliente. The Opa and Pima used the flood waters of the river to irrigate their crops.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Gila Bend, census by census
Between 199 and 1,980 people in every census since 1910.
10 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gila Bend’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Gila Bend’s post office has been open since 1880.
Gone or out of use
Hunts Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gila Bend
Hee - A - Han ParkPioneer
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Gila Bend’s history
What year was Gila Bend founded?
In 1872, according to Wikidata. Gila Bend’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1910 counted 199 people here.
How does Gila Bend rank for history?
Gila Bend is more historic than 29% 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 Gila Bend?
Two places: the Stout's Hotel (listed 2018) and the Gila Bend Overpass (1988).
How old are the homes in Gila Bend?
0.0% of Gila Bend’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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