Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pima’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pima is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #36 of 140 in Arizona. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pima’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 Pima’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 range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). Two sources give 1879.
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 Pima’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Pima was settled by Mormon settlers in 1879. It was originally named "Smithville". The first settlers had been living in Forrest Dale, but then were told they had to leave because the location was on Indian land. Unlike other Mormon settlements of the era, Smithville was not planned by the leaders of the church.
Joseph K. Rogers was the first branch president at Pima, being appointed to this office before any of the settlers arrived. The branch was organized into a ward in 1880. In 1930 the ward had 666 members. Pima had a population of 980, and a total of 1,260 people resided within the boundaries of the Pima ward. In 1990 Pima had 1,725 residents.
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.
In 1879, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pima’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1890 counted 750 people here.
How does Pima rank for history?
Pima is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #36 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.
How old are the homes in Pima?
15% of Pima’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, 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.
1907
1907
1907
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1907
