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B−History
History · Naco

Naco’s post office opened in 1899, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Naco was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1902 on.

1899first post office
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Naco’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Naco began

When was Naco founded?

1899

The Naco post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 824127 years

How historic is Naco?

B−

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Naco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Naco’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naco is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. 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 Naco’s overall grade.
Founding era1899, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.5% of homes (±4.8) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 22 historic buildings, 208 per 10,000 residents · typical AZ town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder

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 Naco’s 208 sits above most of its state (97% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Naco’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1958. Watch Naco change.A historic districtThe Camp Naco Historic District takes in 21 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Naco’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewArizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicini…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Naco on the map, 1902 to 1958

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

Naco on the 1902 USGS mapNaco on the 1910 USGS mapNaco on the 1927 USGS mapNaco on the 1933 USGS mapNaco on the 1958 USGS map1902Bisbee 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 Naco.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 22 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
22
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Naco Border Station
Naco Border Station, built 1936Camp Naco Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Pueblo1
Naco Border StationLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1936
All 2 listings
Camp Naco Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2012

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

The story

How Naco came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Naco.

Read it all →

The present-day unincorporated town of Naco, Arizona, was established in the early 20th century. The area was originally settled by the Nahua and Opata Indians. Naco means "nopal cactus" in the Opata language. The U.S. Congress officially established Naco as a Port of Entry on June 28, 1902. Today, the Naco port of entry is open 24 hours per day.

Occasionally the people on both sides of the border use the border fence as the net in a volleyball game.

Chapters1929 air raid

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Naco, 1899 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899Post officeThe Naco post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1906Born hereJ. Mercer Johnson is born here
  6. 1912In the archiveArizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicinity of Naco and Douglas
  7. 1929In the archiveBombing Of Naco Arizona 1929
  8. 1936BuiltNaco Border Station is built
By decade

Naco, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s3 items
Arizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicinity of Naco and Douglas1912Arizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicinity of Naco and…First Seperate [sic] Battalion Infantry, Washington, D.C.; Camped on the Mexican border1916First Seperate [sic] Battalion Infantry, Washington, …Bombing Of Naco Arizona 19291929Bombing Of Naco Arizona 1929
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today20 recent
Arizona soldiers, US CBP unite to secure border hot spot 140301-Z-ZZ000-0012014Arizona soldiers, US CBP unite to secure border hot s…Naco Az - panoramio (2)2011Naco Az - panoramio (2)Exterior detail, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior detail, Border Patrol StationExterior detail, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior detail, Border Patrol StationExterior detail, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior detail, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationExterior, Border Patrol Station2009Exterior, Border Patrol StationThe Wall in2009The Wall inSurveillance Tower in2009Surveillance Tower inDefense.gov photo essay 070628-F-3071N-2002007Defense.gov photo essay 070628-F-3071N-200
Every building

Naco, building by building, 1904–1909

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.

Naco fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Arizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicinity of Naco and Douglas
Retake this viewArizona-Mexican Boundary Line in vicinity of Naco and Douglas, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Naco’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Naco’s history

What year was Naco founded?

The Naco post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Naco rank for history?

Naco is more historic than 55% 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 Naco?

Two places: the Naco Border Station (listed 1991) and the Camp Naco Historic District (2012).

How old are the homes in Naco?

6% of Naco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1983.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (16), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.