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Old Tubac SchoolhouseOld Tubac Schoolhouse · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0
C+History
History · Tubac

Tubac’s post office opened in 1859, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Tubac was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 2000.

1859first post office
3on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tubac’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tubac began

When was Tubac founded?

1859

The Tubac post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 949 in 20002020 census: 1,581167 years

How historic is Tubac?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Tubac’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tubac is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tubac’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.3) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register3 listings, 22 historic buildings, 170 per 10,000 residents · typical AZ town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder

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 Tubac’s 170 sits above most of its state (96% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Tubac’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Tubac Townsite Historic District takes in 21 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tubac’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLog cabin in the woods} [graphic]: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

3 listings protect 22 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
22
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Old Tubac Schoolhouse
Old Tubac SchoolhouseTubac Presidio, built 1752Tubac Townsite Historic District
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Adobe Row House1
Colonial Revival1
Georgian Revival1
Old Tubac SchoolhouseBuilding
Tubac PresidioBuilt 1752
Tubac Townsite Historic DistrictAdobe Row House

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

The story

How Tubac came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tubac.

Read it all →

Established in 1752 as a Spanish presidio, the first Spanish colonial garrison in what is now Arizona, Tubac was one of the stops on the Camino Real (the "Royal Road") from Mexico to the Spanish settlements in California.

Tubac's most famous Spanish resident was Juan Bautista de Anza. While stationed at Tubac (1760–1776), de Anza built the chapel of Santa Gertrudis, the foundations of which lie beneath today's St. Ann's Church.

Apaches attacked the town repeatedly in the 1840s, forcing the Sonoran Mexicans to abandon both Tumacacori and Tubac.

Tubac was the scene of a four-day siege in 1861 among the population of Tubac, Confederate militia, and Apache warriors.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tubac, 1752 to 1942

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1752BuiltTubac Presidio is built
  3. 19th century
  4. 1859Post officeThe Tubac post office opens
  5. 1860In the archiveLog cabin in the woods} [graphic]
  6. 20th century
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1942Post officeThe Tubac post office closes
By decade

Tubac, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Log cabin in the woods} [graphic]1860Log cabin in the woods} [graphic]
Today10 recent
Community Post Office2019Community Post OfficeTubac Deli & Coffee Co2017Tubac Deli & Coffee CoTubac entrance2012Tubac entranceTubac 112012Tubac 11Kinetic yard art in2012Kinetic yard art inTubacLandscape2010TubacLandscapeFenceinTubac2010FenceinTubacTubac2005TubacAlongTheWatchTower2005AlongTheWatchTowerAZMap-doton-Tubac2004AZMap-doton-Tubac
On the map

Tubac on the map, 1939 to 1996

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

Tubac on the 1939 USGS mapTubac on the 1943 USGS mapTubac on the 1957 USGS mapTubac on the 1981 USGS mapTubac on the 1996 USGS map1939Tubac 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 Tubac.

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.

Log cabin in the woods} [graphic]
Retake this viewLog cabin in the woods} [graphic], 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Tubac, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60020002020Peak: 1,581

Between 949 and 1,581 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Tubac

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

See all →
Charles MingusAmerican jazz double bassist, composer and band… · b. 1922
Movita CastanedaAmerican actress · b. 1916
J
Jack HannahAmerican animator · b. 1913
Christine McIntyreAmerican actress and singer · b. 1911
C
Charles MehanAmerican rugby union player · b. 1896
Bob BaffertAmerican horse owner and trainer · b. 1953
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Tubac had its own post office from 1859 to 1942.

Tubac
1859–1942
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Sotos Crossing

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.

Tumacacori-Carmen2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Tubac’s history

What year was Tubac founded?

The Tubac post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Tubac rank for history?

Tubac is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. 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 Tubac?

Three places: the Old Tubac Schoolhouse (listed 1970), the Tubac Presidio (1970) and the Tubac Townsite Historic District (1994).

How old are the homes in Tubac?

0.0% of Tubac’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1999.

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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.