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BHistory
History · Needles

Needles’ post office opened in 1883, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #89 of 847 in California. What drives it

Its Register listing is the El Garces. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1920.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
14old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Needles’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Needles began

When was Needles founded?

1883

The Needles post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,807 in 19202020 census: 4,931143 years

How historic is Needles?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Needles’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Needles is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #89 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Needles’ overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.8% of homes (±8.6) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2.1 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 90%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Needles’ 2.1 sits above most of its state (80% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.6 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 Needles’ past

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

Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1896 to 1916, drew every building in Needles.A town in postcards14 old photos, postcards and papers, 1898–1943.
★ What stands out · Every building

Needles, building by building, 1896–1916

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.

Needles fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 11896Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Needles, decade by decade

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

1890s–1910s7 items
Mystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Needles, Calif1898Mystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Needles, CalifPostcardDining room, El Garces1909Dining room, El GarcesH. G. Zimmerman & Co. B1514E7 - Prospector, Needles, Calif backc. 1910H. G. Zimmerman & Co. B1514E7 - Prospector, Needles, …PostcardH. G. Zimmerman & Co. B1514E7 - Prospector, Needles, Calif frontc. 1910H. G. Zimmerman & Co. B1514E7 - Prospector, Needles, …Postcard"The bleachers" carnival week--Needles, Cal1910"The bleachers" carnival week--Needles, CalNeedles, California (cropped)c. 1912Needles, California (cropped)PostcardNeedles, Californiac. 1912Needles, CaliforniaPostcard
1920s–1940s7 items
Carty's Camp1923Carty's CampAerial view of Colorado River at Needles, California1929Aerial view of Colorado River at Needles, CaliforniaNeedles (vicinity), California. Desert country along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad between Needles and Ba…1943Needles (vicinity), California. Desert country along …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Needles (vicinity), California. Desert country along the Atchison, Topeka, and San…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Needles (vicinit…Needles (vicinity), California. Coming across a newly-laid road bed on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad betwe…1943Needles (vicinity), California. Coming across a newly…Needles, California. A general view of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad yards1943Needles, California. A general view of the Atchison, …Needles, California. A general view of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad yards1943Needles, California. A general view of the Atchison, …
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
The story

How Needles came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Needles.

Read it all →

Needles was founded in May 1883 during the construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which originally crossed the Colorado River at Eastbridge, Arizona, three miles southeast of modern Needles. Needles was named after "The Needles", a group of pinnacles in the Mohave Mountains on the Arizona side of the river. The crossing was a poor site for a bridge, lacking firm banks and a solid bottom.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Needles, 1883 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Needles post office opens
  3. 1898In the archiveMystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Needles, Calif
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908BuiltEl Garces is built
  6. 1909In the archiveDining room, El Garces
  7. 1910In the archiveH. G. Zimmerman & Co. B1514E7 - Prospector, Needles, Calif back
  8. 1923In the archiveCarty's Camp
  9. 1943In the archiveNeedles (vicinity), California. Desert country along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe R…
  10. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1978Born hereNatalie Diaz is born here
On the map

Needles on the map, 1950 to 1975

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

Needles on the 1950 USGS mapNeedles on the 1975 USGS map1950Needles 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 Needles.

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.

Mystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Needles, Calif
Retake this viewMystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Needles, Calif, 1898

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Needles

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
El Garces
El Garces, built 1908
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals1
Classic Revival1
El GarcesLate 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals · Built 1908

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

People over time

Needles, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,191

Between 2,807 and 5,191 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Needles

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Natalie DiazMojave poet, writer and basketball player · b. 1978
S
Shirley BreedenAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Needles’s post office has been open since 1883.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Parker Junction
Gone or out of use
Gourd Wash PitmineGravel Girty PitmineNeedles Army Air FieldmilitaryNeedles PitmineRiverview Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Needles
Fort Mojave Burial GroundsNeedles Riverview

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

Help out

Finish Needles’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMystic Maze of the Mojave Indians, Need…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Needles’ history

What year was Needles founded?

The Needles post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Needles rank for history?

Needles is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #89 of 847 in California. 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 Needles?

One place: the El Garces (listed 2002).

How old are the homes in Needles?

19% of Needles’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1979.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.