The story
Read it all →How Williams came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Williams.
The Tom Williams House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Williams
Williams’ post office opened in 1895, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Tom Williams House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1940.
1895first post office
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Williams began
When was Williams founded?
1895
The Williams post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 218 in 19402020 census: 98131 years
Founding year: the first Williams post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Williams’ 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 254 in 1950; 98 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19194 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1982. Watch Williams change.Old housesHalf of Williams’ homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Williams’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Williams’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Williams, census by census
Peaked at 254 in 1950; 98 people lived here in 2020.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williams’ Wikipedia page.
On the map
Williams on the map, 1919 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Williams. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Lodge sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Williams.
Timeline
Williams, 1889 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Williams, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890s–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 albumThen & 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.
Retake this viewRio Grande Western Railway : Locomotive RGW 63, 1889
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Williams’ page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Williams
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
1973
Tom Williams House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Dogtrot-Style1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Williams
Nobody well known was born in Williams itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
E
Eric BucknerAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
Questions about Williams’ history
What year was Williams founded?
The Williams post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Williams?
One place: the Tom Williams House (listed 1973).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.