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History · Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond’s post office opened in 1942

Most of Blue Diamond was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1952 on.

1942first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Blue Diamond’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Blue Diamond began

When was Blue Diamond founded?

1942

The Blue Diamond post office opened in 1942, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Blue Diamondville (1942), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 26884 years
Founding year: the first Blue Diamond post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Blue Diamond’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Diamond’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOld Spanish Trail segment, Nevada: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Blue Diamond came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Blue Diamond.

Read it all →

Blue Diamond is the site of Cottonwood Spring (formerly known as Ojo de Cayetana, or Pearl Spring), a watering place and campsite on the Old Spanish Trail and the later Mormon Road between Mountain Springs and Las Vegas Springs. The springs are located on a mountainside south of the town at 36°02′44″N 115°24′22″W at an elevation of 3409 feet.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Blue Diamond, 1942 to 1952

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1942Post officeThe Blue Diamond post office opens
  3. 1942Post officeThe Blue Diamondville post office opens
  4. 1942Post officeThe Blue Diamondville post office closes
  5. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Blue Diamond, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Old Spanish Trail segment, NevadaDate?Old Spanish Trail segment, Nevada
Today9 recent
Keystone Thrust, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Near Las Vegas, Nevada2012Keystone Thrust, Red Rock Canyon National Conservatio…Red Rock Canyons from NV Route 1602011Red Rock Canyons from NV Route 160Cactus Joes Blue Diamond Nursery 12007Cactus Joes Blue Diamond Nursery 1Red Rock escarpment view 52006Red Rock escarpment view 5Red Rock escarpment view 22006Red Rock escarpment view 2Blue Diamond Nevada 42006Blue Diamond Nevada 4Blue Diamond Nevada 32006Blue Diamond Nevada 3Blue Diamond Nevada 22006Blue Diamond Nevada 2Blue Diamond Nevada 12006Blue Diamond Nevada 1
On the map

Blue Diamond on the map, 1952 to 1972

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

Blue Diamond on the 1952 USGS mapBlue Diamond on the 1972 USGS map1952Blue Diamond 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 Blue Diamond.

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.

Old Spanish Trail segment, Nevada
Retake this viewOld Spanish Trail segment, Nevada

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Blue Diamond

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

See all →
Andre AgassiAmerican tennis player · b. 1970
Daveigh ChaseAmerican actress · b. 1990
Matthew Gray GublerAmerican actor, filmmaker and model · b. 1980
Dan ReynoldsAmerican singer · b. 1987
Charisma CarpenterAmerican actress · b. 1970
Brandon FlowersAmerican indie rock singer · b. 1981
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Blue Diamond’s post office has been open since 1942. Another post office, Blue Diamondville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Blue Diamond
1942–today
Blue Diamondville
1942–1942
19401980today

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

Questions about Blue Diamond’s history

What year was Blue Diamond founded?

The Blue Diamond post office opened in 1942, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), 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.