Chief Becenti, a local Navajo headman, is one of the first documented leaders of the area.

He resided north of Crownpoint, where later in the 1930s a small community would be named after him, called Becenti Lake.

The Crownpoint chapter serves as the center of Eastern Navajo Agency, and many tribal offices are located in the community.

Crownpoint is in central McKinley County along New Mexico State Road 371, which leads south 23 miles (37 km) to Thoreau and Interstate 40, and north 83 miles (134 km) to Farmington.

The community sits at an elevation of 6,851 feet (2,088 m)[2] on land that drains toward the Chaco River 30 miles (48 km) to the north.

[1] As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 2,630 people, 749 households, and 599 families residing in the CDP.

17.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.