Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Patagonia was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Its Register listing is the Cady Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1950.
The Patagonia post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Patagonia’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Patagonia.
The area where Patagonia is located provided Native American communities with plentiful hunting and fishing opportunities. Archaeologists have identified the remains of Native American settlements, resource processing sites, and petroglyphs in the area surrounding Patagonia. The area was known as a Tohono O'odham ranchería, or seasonal village, called Sonoitac.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2024Dark drive to
2023Patagonia picnic table
2020Juno Buckmoth
2019Welcome to
2019Patagonia-Mowry Mine Marker
2019Cabbage White Paton's Patagonia AZ 2019-07-26 08-39-32
2018SKIPPERLING, MANY-SPOTTED (Piruna aea) (8-12-2018) up…
2013LUPINE (4-1-13) patagonia, az -01
2007Wagon Wheel Saloon
2006View from Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center
2004AZMap-doton-PatagoniaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Patagonia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Patagonia.
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.
1927Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Patagonia’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 540 and 980 people in every census since 1950.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Patagonia’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Patagonia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Patagonia post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Cady Hall (listed 1992).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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