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DHistory
History · Queen Creek

Queen Creek’s post office opened in 1913, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #72 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Queen Creek was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Its Register listing is the Rittenhouse Elementary School. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1980.

1913first post office
1on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Queen Creek began

When was Queen Creek founded?

1913

The Queen Creek post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1990. Another post office, Chandler Heights (1938), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,378 in 19802020 census: 59,519113 years

How historic is Queen Creek?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Queen Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1990.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Queen Creek’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Queen Creek is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #72 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Queen Creek’s overall grade.
Founding era1913, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.3) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.1 per 10,000 residents · typical AZ town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 49%

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 Queen Creek’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (59% 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 (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1990.

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 Queen Creek’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 Queen Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Queen Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Queen Creek’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 Queen Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Queen Creek.

Read it all →

Based on the post office form on file at the National Archives, Queen Creek was originally known as Rittenhouse, after C. H. Rittenhouse, the community having grown out of a railroad stop he constructed after forming the Queen Creek Farms Company in 1919 and needed a shipping point for his produce. This became a flag stop used for transportation into Phoenix.

The eponymous creek after which the city is named once flowed through Queen Canyon and was originally called Picket Post Creek, before being named for the Silver Queen Mine. The creek is typically more of a dry arroyo.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Queen Creek, 1913 to 2004

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1913Post officeThe Queen Creek post office opens
  3. 1938Post officeThe Chandler Heights post office opens
  4. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1983Post officeThe Chandler Heights post office closes
  6. 1999Born hereBrock Purdy is born here
  7. 21st century
  8. 2004Born hereDonovan Parisian is born here
By decade

Queen Creek, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Will Rogers Equestrian Ranch gate2021Will Rogers Equestrian Ranch gateOlive grove of the Queen Creek Olive Mill2021Olive grove of the Queen Creek Olive MillInterior of a cannibis dispensary in2021Interior of a cannibis dispensary inSouth Mountain from2014South Mountain fromEarth Fissure North of Hunt Highway2014Earth Fissure North of Hunt HighwayView From the Hilltop2013View From the HilltopView From the Hilltop - panoramio (1)2013View From the Hilltop - panoramio (1)
On the map

Queen Creek on the map, 1956 to 1971

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

Queen Creek on the 1956 USGS mapQueen Creek on the 1971 USGS map1956Chandler Heights sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Queen Creek.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Queen Creek

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
1998
Rittenhouse Elementary School
Rittenhouse Elementary School
Buildings
Rittenhouse Elementary SchoolBuilding

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

People over time

Queen Creek, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00019802000202059,519

Grew from 1,378 people in 1980 to 59,519 in 2020, more than tenfold.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Queen Creek

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Brock PurdyAmerican football player · b. 1999
D
Donovan ParisianAmerican soccer player · b. 2004
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Queen Creek’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Chandler Heights, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Queen Creek
1913–today
Chandler Heights
1938–1983
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Sanokai Village
Gone or out of use
Ray Schnepf Ranch Airportairport

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.

San Tan ValleyIts storyD−Gilbert1 historic placeDApache JunctionIts storyD−Mesa31 historic placesC+

Questions about Queen Creek’s history

What year was Queen Creek founded?

The Queen Creek post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1990.

How does Queen Creek rank for history?

Queen Creek is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Queen Creek?

One place: the Rittenhouse Elementary School (listed 1998).

How old are the homes in Queen Creek?

0.3% of Queen Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2012.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.