Most of Kearny was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1959.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kearny’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kearny is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kearny’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 Kearny’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 still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1958.
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 Kearny’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kearny was built by the Kennecott Mining Company in 1958 as a planned community to accommodate the populations of nearby Ray, Sonora and Barcelona, which were about to be swallowed by Kennecott's expanding open-pit copper mine. While many houses in the town were newly built, some mine employees had their homes moved down the road. Kearny was officially incorporated in 1959.
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.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BranamanKearny Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Kearny’s history
What year was Kearny founded?
In 1958, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kearny’s post office opened in 1959, and the census of 1960 counted 902 people here.
How does Kearny rank for history?
Kearny is among the newest 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 Kearny?
0.0% of Kearny’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 1968.
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 (6), 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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