Before the railway was built, the first settlement was called Alamitos (small cotton forest). The approaching construction team of the Santa Fé Railroad was led by the Grant brothers, who built a tent city here, which was commonly known as Grant's Camp. The post office opened in 1882 also took up this name and was listed under "Grants", but the emerging city was called "Grant's Camp" until 1936. In 1950 one of the largest uranium deposits in the world was found in the nearby mountains. The population increased from around 1,200 to 12,000 people until the mines closed in 1982. The Grants Mining Museum deals with the history of mining.