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History · Supai

Supai’s post office opened in 1896

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1962 on, and the census since 1990.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Supai’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Supai began

When was Supai founded?

1896

The Supai post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 423 in 1990130 years
Founding year: the first Supai post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Supai’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 503 in 2000; 208 people lived here in 2010.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Supai’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSupai, Indian basket weaver: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Supai, census by census

01002003004005002000Peak: 503

Peaked at 503 in 2000; 208 people lived here in 2010.

3 censuses, 1990–2010.

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

The story

How Supai came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Supai.

Read it all →

The Havasupai have settled in the region for over a millennium. During the late 19th century, increasing encroachments by cattle farmers and mining operations sanctioned by the United States federal government led to the displacement of the Havasupai from the high plateau of the Grand Canyon. As a result, the Havasupai were gradually confined to the floor of Havasu Canyon, where they traditionally farmed land nourished by silt deposited by the Colorado River. In 1880, the federal government formally established the Havasupai Reservation within the canyon.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Supai, 1896 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Supai post office opens
  3. 1898In the archiveSupai, Indian basket weaver
  4. 20th century
  5. 1943In the archiveSupai, Arizona. A diesel freight train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad betw…
  6. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 503
By decade

Supai, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Supai, Indian basket weaver1898Supai, Indian basket weaver
1900s–1930snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1940s1 item
Supai, Arizona. A diesel freight train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Winslow and Seligman, Ariz…1943Supai, Arizona. A diesel freight train on the Atchiso…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
SupaiVillageFirstSignWigleeva2008SupaiVillageFirstSignWigleevaSupaiUSMailMules2008SupaiUSMailMulesSupaiElevatedWaterTanks2008SupaiElevatedWaterTanksThe Watchers22005The Watchers2
On the map

Supai on the map, 1962 to 1988

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

Supai on the 1962 USGS mapSupai on the 1988 USGS map1962Supai 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 Supai.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Supai, Indian basket weaver
Retake this viewSupai, Indian basket weaver, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Supai’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Supai’s history

What year was Supai founded?

The Supai post office opened in 1896, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (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.