Most of Capitan was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1940.
The Capitan post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gray (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 932 in 19402020 census: 1,391126 years
How historic is Capitan?
D
More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Capitan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Capitan’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Capitan is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Capitan’s overall grade.
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 Capitan’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). 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 Capitan’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Capitan’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Capitan, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Capitan yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Capitan is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located north of the Lincoln National Forest between the Capitan and Sacramento Mountains at an elevation of 6,350 feet (1,950 m). As of the 2020 census, Capitan had a population of 1,391. Capitan was founded in the 1890s and incorporated in 1941.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,489 to 1,391 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Capitan, 1894 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Capitan’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Gray, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gray
1894–1900
Capitan
1900–today
18901960today
1cemetery inside Capitan
Capitan
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Capitan’s history
What year was Capitan founded?
The Capitan post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Capitan rank for history?
Capitan is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns. 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 Capitan?
2% of Capitan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (7), 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.
1917
Date?
2009
2009
2009
2004
