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History · Sawmill

Sawmill’s post office opened in 1952

Most of Sawmill was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 2000.

1952first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Sawmill began

When was Sawmill founded?

1952

The Sawmill post office opened in 1952, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 612 in 20002020 census: 56474 years
Founding year: the first Sawmill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Sawmill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sawmill’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Sawmill, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sawmill yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sawmill (Navajo: Niʼiijííh Hasání) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. Sawmill is a part of Fort Defiance Agency, which is on the Navajo Nation. The population was 748 at the 2010 census. It is named after and developed around a sawmill. A trading post has been present since 1907.

Its first post office opened in 1952. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 748 to 564 (-25%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Sawmill, 1952 to 1964

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1952Post officeThe Sawmill post office opens
  3. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1964Post officeThe Sawmill post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Sawmill on the map, 1955 to 1982

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

Sawmill on the 1955 USGS mapSawmill on the 1982 USGS map1955Zith-Tusayan Butte 1 NW 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 Sawmill.

People over time

Sawmill, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 748

Between 564 and 748 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Sawmill

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

See all →
B
Brett HelquistAmerican artist · b. 1966
J
Jeremiah BitsuiAmerican actor · b. 2000
James S. WallCatholic bishop · b. 1964
R. C. GormanDiné (Navajo) painter and printmaker · b. 1931
A
Albert HaleAmerican politician from Arizona · b. 1950
Raven ChaconNavajo composer and artist · b. 1977
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Sawmill had its own post office from 1952 to 1964.

Sawmill
1952–1964
19501990today

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

Questions about Sawmill’s history

What year was Sawmill founded?

The Sawmill post office opened in 1952, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.