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CHistory
History · Payson

Payson’s post office opened in 1884, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #50 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Payson was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Ox Bow Inn. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1970.

1884first post office
1on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Payson began

When was Payson founded?

1884

The Payson post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1973.

First census: 1,787 in 19702020 census: 16,351142 years

How historic is Payson?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Payson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Payson’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Payson is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #50 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Payson’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.5) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical AZ town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 65%

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 Payson’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1973.

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 Payson’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 Payson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages7 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Payson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Payson’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
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Payson’s post office has been open since 1884.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar Grove Mobile Home ParkFort McDonaldMountain Shadows Mobile Trailer ResortOak Park Mobile Home ParkSherwood Forest Mobile Home ParkStarview Mobile Home ParkTwin Lakes Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Lacy AirportairportSilver King Minemine
1cemetery inside Payson
Payson Pioneer

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

The story

How Payson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Payson.

Read it all →

Prior to the arrival of European-American settlers, the area was known as Te-go-suk—or Place of the Yellow Water—by the Dilzhe'e Apache. The area was also historically inhabited by the Yavapai and other Oasisamerican peoples, including the Hohokam, Mogollon, Salado, and Sinagua cultures.

In 1882, considered to be the founding year of Payson, area settlers—led by Henry Sidles, John and Lucy Hise, and James Callaghan—established a logging, mining, and ranching hamlet called "Union Park." The settlement was also known as "Green Valley."

ChaptersEllison Creek and East Verde River flooding

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Payson, decade by decade

Today18 recent
King of the Trash Hill2013King of the Trash Hill2013-365-248 I'm Lichen The Artist20132013-365-248 I'm Lichen The ArtistRoadside Paleozoic2011Roadside PaleozoicPicturesque Snow from the top of Mogollon Rim2011Picturesque Snow from the top of Mogollon RimPayson Arizona 20112011Payson Arizona 2011Fresh Snow in the Morning2011Fresh Snow in the MorningFirst Snow of Winter 20112011First Snow of Winter 2011A good day at the slots- teo successive progressive wins, netted me $55 in the black2011A good day at the slots- teo successive progressive w…Swirly Sky over2010Swirly Sky over@dailyshoot- 2010-10-16- Make a photograph of an edge of something today. The edge of a knife, the waters edge, or some…2010@dailyshoot- 2010-10-16- Make a photograph of an edge…2010-365-308 Listen to A Doctor20102010-365-308 Listen to A Doctor2010-365-23 Somber Skies20102010-365-23 Somber SkiesPayson, Arizona2009Payson, Arizona2009-365-187 All We Get is Hay?20092009-365-187 All We Get is Hay?Payson Flowers2008Payson FlowersGlorious sunrise driving south on AZ 87 from Payson - this one was run through PhotoShop Bas Relief filter and colorize…2008Glorious sunrise driving south on AZ 87 from Payson -…Giant Thunderhead2008Giant ThunderheadAZMap-doton-Payson2004AZMap-doton-Payson
On the map

Payson on the map, 1936 to 2004

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

Payson on the 1936 USGS mapPayson on the 1942 USGS mapPayson on the 1973 USGS mapPayson on the 2004 USGS map1936Payson 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 Payson.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Payson

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
2004
Ox Bow Inn
Ox Bow Inn
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Boom Town Revival1
Ox Bow InnBoom Town Revival

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

People over time

Payson, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00019802000202016,351

Grew from 1,787 people in 1970 to 16,351 in 2020, 9 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Star Valley1 historic placeD

Questions about Payson’s history

What year was Payson founded?

The Payson post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.

How does Payson rank for history?

Payson is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Payson?

One place: the Ox Bow Inn (listed 2004).

How old are the homes in Payson?

0.5% of Payson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1993.

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 (18), 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) 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.