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History · Tacna

Tacna’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Tacna was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 2000.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tacna began

When was Tacna founded?

1888

The Tacna post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 555 in 20002020 census: 425138 years
Founding year: the first Tacna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Tacna’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tacna’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

How Tacna came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tacna.

Read it all →

By 1859, the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach company had opened the Antelope Peak Station at the foot of Antelope Hill. A post office named Tacna was created following the building of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, but did not last long. The name Tacna subsequently only referred to a railroad siding serving as a watering station. The town of Tacna was founded by Max B. Noah in the early 1920s and was named after the railroad stop. At the time he sold the town in 1941, it contained a post office and a restaurant called Noah's Ark. After the town's sale, the post office was relocated four miles east, and the original railroad siding was renamed to Noah.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Tacna, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Tacna, AZ post office2012Tacna, AZ post officeRadial gate hoist mechanisms mounted above radial gates, view to the east - Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation System, Wasteway …2005Radial gate hoist mechanisms mounted above radial gat…AZMap-doton-Tacna2004AZMap-doton-Tacna
On the map

Tacna on the map, 1926 to 1982

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

Tacna on the 1926 USGS mapTacna on the 1965 USGS mapTacna on the 1982 USGS map1926Mohawk 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 Tacna.

People over time

Tacna, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 602

Between 425 and 602 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners

Tacna’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Tanque Aloma

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

Questions about Tacna’s history

What year was Tacna founded?

The Tacna post office opened in 1888, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (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.