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C+History
History · Carlin

Carlin’s post office opened in 1868, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1930.

1868first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carlin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carlin began

When was Carlin founded?

1868

The Carlin post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 825 in 19302020 census: 2,050158 years

How historic is Carlin?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Carlin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carlin is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carlin’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.4% of homes (±9.4) · typical NV town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NV town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
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 Carlin’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 range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 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 Carlin’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1897, drew every building in Carlin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carlin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carlin’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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Carlin, building by building, 1885–1897

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.

Carlin fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 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.

The story

How Carlin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carlin.

Read it all →

The town was founded in December 1868, at the eastern terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad's Humboldt Division. The railroad built extensive facilities, including a roundhouse, machine shops, and a new depot in 1906. An ice-harvesting industry also developed, supplying ice for the railroad's refrigerator cars.

The Southern Pacific Railroad maintained the Carlin Shops, a major repair and maintenance center, near the depot at the foot of Sixth Street in Carlin. Construction of the Carlin Shops began in 1869. Its history was documented around 1968 by the Historic American Engineering Record.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carlin, 1850 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-5, ED 4-6, ED…
  3. 1868Post officeThe Carlin post office opens
  4. 1873In the archiveLesliesNov91873
  5. 20th century
  6. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Carlin, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1870s3 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-5, ED 4-6, ED 4-7, ED 4-818501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevad…1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-9, ED 4-10, ED 4-11, ED 4-1218501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevad…LesliesNov918731873LesliesNov91873
Today9 recent
2014-05-31 11 39 40 View west along Interstate 80 from the Exit 280 overpass in20142014-05-31 11 39 40 View west along Interstate 80 fro…2014-05-31 11 38 05 View east along Interstate 80 from the Exit 280 overpass in20142014-05-31 11 38 05 View east along Interstate 80 fro…2014-05-31 11 35 38 Sign for Exit 280 along westbound Interstate 80 in20142014-05-31 11 35 38 Sign for Exit 280 along westbound…2014-05-31 11 33 13 View west along Interstate 80 from the Exit 282 overpass in20142014-05-31 11 33 13 View west along Interstate 80 fro…2014-05-31 11 32 53 View east along Interstate 80 from the Exit 282 overpass in20142014-05-31 11 32 53 View east along Interstate 80 fro…2014-05-31 11 24 32 View west along Interstate 80 from an overpass east of20142014-05-31 11 24 32 View west along Interstate 80 fro…2014-05-31 11 24 04 View east along Interstate 80 from an overpass east of20142014-05-31 11 24 04 View east along Interstate 80 fro…2012-10-08 View of Carlin in Nevada from the south side of the Humboldt River20122012-10-08 View of Carlin in Nevada from the south si…2012-10-08 View of Calin in Nevada from Interstate 8020122012-10-08 View of Calin in Nevada from Interstate 80
On the map

Carlin on the map, 1952 to 1985

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

Carlin on the 1952 USGS mapCarlin on the 1985 USGS map1952Carlin 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 Carlin.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-5, ED 4-6, ED 4-7, ED 4-8
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-5, ED 4-6, ED 4-7, ED 4-8, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Carlin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019401960198020002020Peak: 2,368

Between 825 and 2,368 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Carlin

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

See all →
Morley GriswoldAmerican politician · b. 1890
Jenny Lee LindbergAmerican bassist · b. 1981
J
Joseph L. HendersonAmerican physician · b. 1903
Robert Marion ClawsonAmerican economist · b. 1905
Cy SneedAmerican professional baseball player · b. 1992
D
Dirk BorgognoneAmerican football placekicker · b. 1968
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Carlin’s post office has been open since 1868.

Gone or out of use
Carlin AirportairportCarlin Reservationmilitary
1cemetery inside Carlin
Carlin

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

Questions about Carlin’s history

What year was Carlin founded?

The Carlin post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Carlin rank for history?

Carlin is more historic than 37% 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 Carlin?

16% of Carlin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada 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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.