Holbrook dates to 1881, and 7 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #12 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Holbrook was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Holbrook’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holbrook is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Holbrook’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 Holbrook’s 51.5 sits above most of its state (88% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1881.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Holbrook’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Buzzard Gulch Trailer ParkClearview HeightsCozy Canyon Mobile Home ParkHillcrest Mobile Home ParkKargas Mobile Home ParkLisitzky SubdivisionRosedale HeightsSierra Plaza Subdivision
Gone or out of use
Holbrook Hospitalhospital
1cemetery inside Holbrook
Holbrook
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Holbrook, building by building, 1890–1927
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.
1890Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Holbrook area was inhabited first by the Ancestral Puebloans, then Puebloans, then the Navajo and Apache. In 1540 Coronado searched for the Seven Cities of Cibola and camped some 60 miles (100 km) east of Holbrook. Coronado sent an expedition west to find the Colorado River, and they crossed the Little Colorado some 25 miles (40 km) east of Holbrook and found a wonderland of colors they named "El Desierto Pintada" – The Painted Desert. The expedition was then led by the Hopis to the Grand Canyon.
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 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Holbrook’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1890 counted 206 people here.
How does Holbrook rank for history?
Holbrook is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Holbrook?
7 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Navajo County Courthouse (listed 1978, the first), 1 historic district, the South Central Avenue Commercial Historic District, with 4 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 25 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Holbrook?
3% of Holbrook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1973.
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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1889
1909
