Superior’s post office opened in 1902, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #7 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Superior post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Superior’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Superior is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #7 of 140 in Arizona. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Superior’s overall grade.
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 Superior’s 23.7 sits above most of its state (84% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Superior’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Like nearby Globe, Ray, and Clifton, Arizona, Superior was once part of a huge Apache reservation, but after silver and copper deposits were discovered, those areas were withdrawn from the reservation and returned to the public domain.
In 1872, at the height of the American Indian Wars, a band of raiding Apache horsemen were ambushed by a United States Cavalry force from Picket Post Mountain. After losing 50 men, the Apache retreated up the mountain later named "Apache Leap". According to local legend, in the face of defeat, the remaining Apache leapt to their death rather than being captured by the cavalry, thus giving the mountain its name.
Superior was originally called Queen, then Hastings, and under the latter name was platted in 1900.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Superior. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Superior 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 Superior.
Every building
Superior, building by building, 1919–1926
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Superior’s history
What year was Superior founded?
The Superior post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Superior rank for history?
Superior is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #7 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 Superior?
Three places: the Queen Creek Bridge (listed 1988), the Magma Hotel (1994) and the Thompson, Boyce, Southwestern Arboretum (2025).
How old are the homes in Superior?
31% of Superior’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.2 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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