Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Capulin

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Capulin

26% of Capulin’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1972 on.

0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Capulin’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Capulin’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Capulin’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Capulin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Capulin.

Read it all →

It was known as Dedman from 1909 to 1922, after railroad superintendent E.J. Dedman.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Capulin, 1909 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Dedman post office opens
  3. 1922Post officeThe Dedman post office closes
  4. 1939In the archiveMountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico
  5. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Capulin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Mountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico1939Mountain scene near Capulin, New MexicoSign along the road near Capulin, New Mexico1939Sign along the road near Capulin, New MexicoUntitled photo, possibly related to: Mountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mountain scene n…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Capulin, New Mexico2026Capulin, New MexicoCapulin, New Mexico from above2026Capulin, New Mexico from aboveCapulin Volcano National Monument, NM2014Capulin Volcano National Monument, NM
On the map

Capulin on the map in 1972

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Capulin.

Capulin on the 1972 USGS map1972Capulin sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Capulin.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico
Retake this viewMountain scene near Capulin, New Mexico, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Capulin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Dedman, opened and closed inside today’s town.

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

Questions about Capulin’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.