Shiprock dates to 1903, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #46 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Most of Shiprock was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the San Juan River Bridge at Shiprock. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 2000.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1904.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Shiprock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shiprock is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #46 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Shiprock’s overall grade.
New Mexico towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical New Mexico town has 2.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Shiprock’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (59% of New Mexico 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 D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1903.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Shiprock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Shiprock was founded on September 11, 1903, by San Juan Agency superintendent William Taylor Shelton after being assigned to the northern Navajo by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A former U.S. government instructor in agriculture at the Cherokee School in Yellow Hill, North Carolina (now Cherokee, NC), Shelton had moved up through BIA ranks to be given the appointment to open an Indian agency and boarding school. He founded Shiprock Indian School and administrative agency with a staff of three white and three Navajo employees. Shiprock Indian Boarding School remained until the American Indian boarding school system was phased out in the early 1980s.
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.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Shiprock, census by census
Between 7,718 and 8,295 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shiprock’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Shiprock’s post office has been open since 1904.
Gone or out of use
Enos Johnson MinemineNelson Pit and Shady SidemineShiprock Pitmine
1cemetery inside Shiprock
Shiprock
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Shiprock’s history
What year was Shiprock founded?
In 1903, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Shiprock’s post office opened in 1904, and the census of 2000 counted 8,156 people here.
How does Shiprock rank for history?
Shiprock is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #46 of 73 in New Mexico. 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 Shiprock?
One place: the San Juan River Bridge at Shiprock (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Shiprock?
0.2% of Shiprock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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2024
2021
2021
2016
2014
2013
2004
