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C−History
History · Bloomfield

Bloomfield’s post office opened in 1879

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #44 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it

Most of Bloomfield was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1960.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: AllenS · Public domain
Quick answers

How Bloomfield began

When was Bloomfield founded?

1879

The Bloomfield post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Porter (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,292 in 19602020 census: 7,421147 years

How historic is Bloomfield?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Bloomfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bloomfield is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #44 of 73 in New Mexico. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bloomfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.4% of homes (±2.2) · typical NM town 2.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NM town 2.2 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 40%

New Mexico towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical New Mexico town has 2.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bloomfield’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of New Mexico 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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Bloomfield’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bloomfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bloomfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bloomfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Bloomfield, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bloomfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bloomfield (Navajo: Naabiʼání) is a city in northeastern San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Farmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Bloomfield had a population of 7,421. It is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 8,112 to 7,421 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bloomfield, 1879 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Bloomfield post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Porter post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe Porter post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bloomfield, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Waiting for the Rapture2010Waiting for the RaptureBloomfield New Mexico Administrative Offices2009Bloomfield New Mexico Administrative OfficesBloomfield Public Library New Mexico2008Bloomfield Public Library New MexicoNMMap-doton-Bloomfield2004NMMap-doton-Bloomfield
On the map

Bloomfield on the map, 1960 to 1985

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

Bloomfield on the 1960 USGS mapBloomfield on the 1985 USGS map1960Bloomfield 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 Bloomfield.

People over time

Bloomfield, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001960198020002020Peak: 8,112

Between 1,292 and 8,112 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bloomfield

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

See all →
Melanie StansburyUnited States Representative from New Mexico si… · b. 1979
E
Esther MartinezNew Mexican Tewa language activist and linguist · b. 1912
Chevel ShepherdAmerican singer · b. 2002
Mike DunnAmerican baseball player for The Colorado Rocki… · b. 1985
A
Alex KennedyAmerican stock car racing driver · b. 1992
B
Brittani CouryAmerican para-snowboarder · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bloomfield’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Porter, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bloomfield
1879–today
Porter
1881–1882
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bloomfield
BloomfieldSaint Marys Catholic

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

SullivanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLee AcresIts storyD−West HammondIts storyD−AngusturaIts storyC−Aztec17 historic placesB−

Questions about Bloomfield’s history

What year was Bloomfield founded?

The Bloomfield post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bloomfield rank for history?

Bloomfield is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #44 of 73 in New Mexico. 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 Bloomfield?

1% of Bloomfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 (4), 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.