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AZ 264 Keams Canyon 2006 09 08Photo: Reinhard Schön (original photograph) and Andreas F. Borchert (postprocessing) · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Keams Canyon

Keams Canyon’s post office opened in 1926, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Keams Canyon was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Its Register listing is the Inscription Rock. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 2000.

1926first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Reinhard Schön (original photograph) and Andreas F. Borchert (postprocessing) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Keams Canyon began

When was Keams Canyon founded?

1926

The Keams Canyon post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Keams Canon (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 260 in 20002020 census: 265100 years
Founding year: the first Keams Canyon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Keams Canyon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Keams Canyon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keams Canyon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keams Canyon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Keams Canyon, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Keams Canyon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Keams Canyon (Hopi: Pongsikya or Pongsikvi; Navajo: Lókʼaaʼdeeshjin) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, on the Hopi Reservation. The population was 304 at the 2010 census. Pongsikya is a narrow box canyon that is named after a plant of edible greens that survived along the seasonal stream that drains from Antelope Mesa and flows through the 3 mi (5 km) long canyon. Here William Keam, and then his cousin Thomas Keam, operated a trading post during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. They served the Navajo Indians and opened the door to commercial trade for the Hopi Indians. The nearest trading post was some 50 mi (80 km) away and Keam's tradi…

Its first post office opened in 1926. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 304 to 265 (-13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Keams Canyon, 1883 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Keams Canon post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1926Post officeThe Keams Canon post office closes
  5. 1926Post officeThe Keams Canyon post office opens
  6. 1946Born hereClifford Beck is born here
  7. 1950Born hereDan Namingha is born here
  8. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Keams Canyon, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Hard to read2009Hard to readSt Joseph's Mission Church2008St Joseph's Mission ChurchAZ 264 Keams Canyon 2006 09 082006AZ 264 Keams Canyon 2006 09 08
On the map

Keams Canyon on the map, 1966 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Keams Canyon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Keams Canyon on the 1966 USGS mapKeams Canyon on the 1982 USGS mapKeams Canyon on the 1991 USGS map1966Keams Canyon 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 Keams Canyon.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Keams Canyon

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Inscription Rock
Inscription Rock
Sites
All 1 listings
Inscription RockSite · listed 1978

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Keams Canyon, census by census

010020030020002020Peak: 304

Between 260 and 304 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Keams Canyon’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Keams Canyon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Dan NaminghaHopi painter and sculptor (b. 1950) · b. 1950
C
Clifford BeckNavajo painter · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Keams Canyon’s post office has been open since 1926. Another post office, Keams Canon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Keams Canon
1883–1926
Keams Canyon
1926–today
18801950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Keams Canyon’s history

What year was Keams Canyon founded?

The Keams Canyon post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Keams Canyon?

One place: the Inscription Rock (listed 1978).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.