Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pinetop-Lakeside

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
D−History
History · Pinetop-Lakeside

Pinetop-Lakeside was first counted by the census in 1980

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #130 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Pinetop-Lakeside was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1980.

1980first census
0on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: John from tucson az · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Pinetop-Lakeside began

When was Pinetop-Lakeside founded?

1980

Pinetop-Lakeside first appears in the census in 1980.

First census: 2,315 in 19802020 census: 4,03046 years

How historic is Pinetop-Lakeside?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Pinetop-Lakeside’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pinetop-Lakeside is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #130 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pinetop-Lakeside’s overall grade.
Founding era1980, from the first census: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.7) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical AZ town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 7%

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 Pinetop-Lakeside’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 D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Pinetop-Lakeside’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 Pinetop-Lakeside are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pinetop-Lakeside’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pinetop-Lakeside’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
The story

How Pinetop-Lakeside came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pinetop-Lakeside.

Read it all →

The town of Lakeside got its name from the area's lakes, and Pinetop got its name from a local saloon owner, Walt Rigney, who got the nickname "Pinetop" from the tall building of his saloon.

Early Mormon settlers moved into the area around Pinetop-Lakeside in the mid-1880s, and were the primary non-native residents for much of the towns early history. The primary industry in that period were sawmills for the large, mature Ponderosa Pine forest that surround it.

While the two towns of Pinetop and Lakeside merged in 1984, many residents and the US postal service consider them distinct communities.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pinetop-Lakeside, 1891 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Pinetop post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Lakeside post office opens
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1995Born hereZella Day is born here
By decade

Pinetop-Lakeside, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 2017 032017Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 201…Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 2017 022017Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 201…Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 2017 012017Prescribed burns - Lakeside Ranger District - Dec 201…Red Barn2013Red BarnStand2011StandMoon over Pinetop2011Moon over PinetopLakeside, AZ2009Lakeside, AZ
On the map

Pinetop-Lakeside on the map, 1961 to 1998

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

Pinetop-Lakeside on the 1961 USGS mapPinetop-Lakeside on the 1976 USGS mapPinetop-Lakeside on the 1984 USGS mapPinetop-Lakeside on the 1998 USGS map1961McNary 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 Pinetop-Lakeside.

People over time

Pinetop-Lakeside, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500198020002020Peak: 4,282

Between 2,315 and 4,282 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Pinetop
1891–today
Lakeside
1906–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LakesidePinetop

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lake of the Woods1 historic placeCPinetop Country ClubIts storyD−HondahIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWagon WheelIts storyD−Show Low1 historic placeC−

Questions about Pinetop-Lakeside’s history

What year was Pinetop-Lakeside founded?

The Pinetop-Lakeside post office opened in 1980, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1984.

How does Pinetop-Lakeside rank for history?

Pinetop-Lakeside is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #130 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 Pinetop-Lakeside?

0.4% of Pinetop-Lakeside’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1986.

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), 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.