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D−History
History · Amargosa Valley

Amargosa Valley’s post office opened in 1982

Among the newest of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Amargosa Valley was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1961 on.

1982first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Amargosa Valley began

When was Amargosa Valley founded?

1982

The Amargosa Valley post office opened in 1982, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Leeland (1911), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,06444 years

How historic is Amargosa Valley?

D−

Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Amargosa Valley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Amargosa Valley is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Amargosa Valley’s overall grade.
Founding era1982, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±2.3) · typical NV town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NV town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the newest
NewerOlder

Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Amargosa Valley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 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 Amargosa Valley’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 Amargosa Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Amargosa Valley, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Amargosa Valley’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Amargosa Valley’s post office has been open since 1982. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Leeland
1911–1914
Lathrop Wells
1958–1982
Amargosa Valley
1982–today
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Leeland
Gone or out of use
Imvite AirportairportJackass Aeroparkairport

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

The story

How Amargosa Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Amargosa Valley.

Read it all →

The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ran through the valley from 1906 to 1940, for borax mining operations. Modern development did not begin until the early 1950s. Electric power, other than that produced by private generators, was not available until 1963. Until the early 1990s growth in Amargosa Valley was minimal. More recently, intense growth in Las Vegas has led many new residents to settle in Amargosa Valley and nearby Pahrump.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Amargosa Valley, 1911 to 1982

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911Post officeThe Leeland post office opens
  3. 1914Post officeThe Leeland post office closes
  4. 1958Post officeThe Lathrop Wells post office opens
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1982Post officeThe Lathrop Wells post office closes
  7. 1982Post officeThe Amargosa Valley post office opens
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Amargosa Valley on the map, 1961 to 1983

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

Amargosa Valley on the 1961 USGS mapAmargosa Valley on the 1983 USGS map1961Lathrop Wells 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 Amargosa Valley.

Questions about Amargosa Valley’s history

What year was Amargosa Valley founded?

The Amargosa Valley post office opened in 1982, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Amargosa Valley rank for history?

Amargosa Valley is among the newest 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.

How old are the homes in Amargosa Valley?

0.0% of Amargosa Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.