Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Quartzsite

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
CHistory
History · Quartzsite

Quartzsite’s post office opened in 1896, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Quartzsite was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Hi Jolly Monument. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1980.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Quartzsite began

When was Quartzsite founded?

1896

The Quartzsite post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1989. Another post office, Tysons (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,193 in 19802020 census: 2,413130 years

How historic is Quartzsite?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Quartzsite post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1989.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Quartzsite’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Quartzsite is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 Quartzsite’s overall grade.
Founding era1896, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.5% of homes (±2.3) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 5.3 per 10,000 residents · typical AZ town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
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 Quartzsite’s 5.3 sits above most of its state (73% 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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1989.

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 Quartzsite’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 Quartzsite are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,677 in 2010; 2,413 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quartzsite’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Quartzsite’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
People over time

Quartzsite, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000198020002020Peak: 3,677

Peaked at 3,677 in 2010; 2,413 people lived here in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

The story

How Quartzsite came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Quartzsite.

Read it all →

Quartzsite's current location was the site of a waterhole from 1863 to the 1880s and was later a stage station, called Tyson's Wells, along the La Paz - Wikenburg Road on Tyson Wash, in what was then Yuma County, in the newly created Arizona Territory. It was about 20 miles from the Colorado River steamboat landing of La Paz and 25 miles from the landing of Ehrenberg from 1866. The next stop was 25 miles to the east at Desert Station.

Tyson's Wells in 1875 was described by Martha Summerhayes, in her book Vanished Arizona:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Quartzsite, 1893 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Tysons post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Tysons post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Quartzsite post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935BuiltHi Jolly Monument is built
  7. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 3,677
By decade

Quartzsite, decade by decade

Today23 recent
My Public Lands Magazine, Spring 20152014My Public Lands Magazine, Spring 2015January 2014, View NE, Tyson Wash, La Posa Plain and Quartzsite, AZ from Q Hill Summit, Plomosa Mountains to the North.…2014January 2014, View NE, Tyson Wash, La Posa Plain and …2014, View S, Gene Hassler's High-wheel Club20142014, View S, Gene Hassler's High-wheel Club2014, View N, The High-wheel Club, Imagineer, Gene Hassler20142014, View N, The High-wheel Club, Imagineer, Gene Ha…2014, Star the Colt, Artist Garry Underwood20142014, Star the Colt, Artist Garry Underwood2014, Lit Up Lane, Sculpture by Gene Hassler20142014, Lit Up Lane, Sculpture by Gene Hassler2014, Evening Sight, Hassler's RV Park Entrance20142014, Evening Sight, Hassler's RV Park Entrance2014, Detail, Star the Colt, Artist Garry Underwood20142014, Detail, Star the Colt, Artist Garry Underwood2014, Blue Heron from Found Materials at Abandoned Indiana Homesteads, Artist Garry Underwood20142014, Blue Heron from Found Materials at Abandoned In…2014, An Inspired High-wheel bicycle, Gene Hassler, Imagineer20142014, An Inspired High-wheel bicycle, Gene Hassler, I…View W from Hill PGT^4, West Quartzsite, Granite Mountain and the Rock Mountains2013View W from Hill PGT^4, West Quartzsite, Granite Moun…View N from Hill PGT^4, Quartzsite, Arizona, Plomosa Mountains in the Distance2013View N from Hill PGT^4, Quartzsite, Arizona, Plomosa …View E to the Plomosa Mountains and East Quartzsite from Hill PGT ^42013View E to the Plomosa Mountains and East Quartzsite f…2013, Quartzsite Morning Granite Mountain20132013, Quartzsite Morning Granite Mountain2013, East Quartzsite, Granite and La Cholla Mountains20132013, East Quartzsite, Granite and La Cholla MountainsSons of liberty riders2011Sons of liberty ridersQuartzsite, AZ, Truck Stop, 20112011Quartzsite, AZ, Truck Stop, 2011Quartzsite, AZ , View W, US 95 and Interstate 10, 20112011Quartzsite, AZ , View W, US 95 and Interstate 10, 2011Quartzsite, AZ , View E, US 95 and Interstate 10, 20112011Quartzsite, AZ , View E, US 95 and Interstate 10, 20112011, USA, AZ, Entering20112011, USA, AZ, EnteringQ Mountain2010Q MountainQuartzsite, AZ, The Motor Pool, 20092009Quartzsite, AZ, The Motor Pool, 2009Crystal Hill summit 360° panorama2009Crystal Hill summit 360° panorama
On the map

Quartzsite on the map, 1962 to 1990

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

Quartzsite on the 1962 USGS mapQuartzsite on the 1990 USGS map1962Quartzsite 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 Quartzsite.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Quartzsite

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
2011
Hi Jolly Monument
Hi Jolly Monument, built 1935
Objects
Hi Jolly MonumentBuilt 1935

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Quartzsite

Nobody well known was born in Quartzsite itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gary GoddardAmerican film producer and director · b. 1954
T
Tony EasonAmerican football player · b. 1959
A
Andrew CancioMexican-American boxer · b. 1988
Veronica MurdockAmerican civil servant · b. 1944
A
Adam SevadaAmerican darts player · b. 1985
F
Frankie ErvinMusical artist · b. 1926
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Quartzsite’s post office has been open since 1896. Another post office, Tysons, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tysons
1893–1895
Quartzsite
1896–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Crawfords Trailer ParkMountain Quail Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Fly-in Picnic Grounds AirportairportJulian MinemineOra Acres AirportairportQuartzsite Airportairport
1cemetery inside Quartzsite
Hi Jolly

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.

La Paz ValleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Quartzsite’s history

What year was Quartzsite founded?

The Quartzsite post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1989.

How does Quartzsite rank for history?

Quartzsite is more historic than 31% 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 Quartzsite?

One place: the Hi Jolly Monument (listed 2011).

How old are the homes in Quartzsite?

2% of Quartzsite’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1988.

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 (23), Wikidata (1), 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.