San Luis dates to 1851, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1970.
The Town of San Luis is centuries younger than the pueblos and villages of northern New Mexico because Hispanic settlers were wary of venturing north of the 37th parallel north for fear of Ute and Comanche raids. Armed traders traveled the Old Spanish Trail through the area in the early 19th century. In 1821, the Treaty of Córdoba recognized the independence of Mexico from the Spanish Empire. San Luis was in the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant awarded by the government of New Mexico to the Carlos Beaubien family in 1843. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo annexed northern Mexico to the United States in 1848, and the Compromise of 1850 created the U.S. Territory of New Mexico.
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.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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