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History · Carrizozo

Carrizozo’s post office opened in 1902, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 30 buildings. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1920.

1902first post office
3on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Carrizozo began

When was Carrizozo founded?

1902

The Carrizozo post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,301 in 19202020 census: 972124 years
Founding year: the first Carrizozo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Carrizozo’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 Carrizozo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Carrizozo Commercial Historic District takes in 30 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,546 in 1960; 972 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Carrizozo’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carrizozo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carrizozo’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
On the National Register

3 listings protect 33 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
33
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Carrizozo Woman's Club
Carrizozo Woman's Club, built 1939Paden's Drug StoreCarrizozo Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Pueblo Revival1
Commercial Vernacular1
Carrizozo Woman's ClubPueblo Revival · Built 1939
All 3 listings
Paden's Drug StoreBuilding · listed 2005Carrizozo Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2016

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Carrizozo, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,546

Peaked at 1,546 in 1960; 972 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Carrizozo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carrizozo.

Read it all →

Prior to 1899, the area was primarily a few ranches and a stagecoach crossing with limited permanent settlement. Lawrence Murphy, a merchant active in the Lincoln County War (1878), owned a major ranch in the area. The location of Carrizozo was selected as the site for a station on the El Paso and Northeastern Railway (EP&NE) main line in 1899. Carrizozo was chosen over the nearby booming mine town of White Oaks, resulting in large-scale migration from White Oaks to Carrizozo.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carrizozo, 1902 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Carrizozo post office opens
  3. 1919Born hereEarl Reece Stadtman is born here
  4. 1939BuiltCarrizozo Woman's Club is built
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,546
By decade

Carrizozo, decade by decade

Today21 recent
The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly th…2020The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo…The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly th…2020The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo…An old jalopy at an installation that some call "outsider art" in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo…2020An old jalopy at an installation that some call "outs…The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly th…2020The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo…The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly th…2020The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo…A three-building block in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of…2020A three-building block in the small south-central New…Master woodworker, Mike Lagg and prolific artist, Paula Wilson take a break among the pieces of their art installation …2020Master woodworker, Mike Lagg and prolific artist, Pau…A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art," in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, w…2020A sampling of an installation that some call "outside…A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art" in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, w…2020A sampling of an installation that some call "outside…A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art," in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, w…2020A sampling of an installation that some call "outside…A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art" in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, wi…2020A sampling of an installation that some call "outside…This Pueblo Revival-style structure in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,00…2020This Pueblo Revival-style structure in the small, sou…This is what's left in early 2021 inside the Lyric Theatre, in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, wi…2020This is what's left in early 2021 inside the Lyric Th…The most humble of shrines beside the most humble of streets in the south-central New Mexico city of Carrizozo2020The most humble of shrines beside the most humble of …A lone cactus, well past blooming, does not do much to soften the harsh central New Mexico landscape, near Carrizozo2020A lone cactus, well past blooming, does not do much t…A wintertime look at the dark fields and low mountains outside the south-central New Mexico city of Carrizozo2020A wintertime look at the dark fields and low mountain…The First Baptist Church in the south-central New Mexico city of Carrizozo2020The First Baptist Church in the south-central New Mex…Intersected2010IntersectedCarrizozo Lava Flow2009Carrizozo Lava FlowCarrizozo2007CarrizozoNMMap-doton-Carrizozo2004NMMap-doton-Carrizozo
On the map

Carrizozo on the map, 1943 to 1982

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

Carrizozo on the 1943 USGS mapCarrizozo on the 1950 USGS mapCarrizozo on the 1982 USGS map1943Carrizozo 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 Carrizozo.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Carrizozo’s post office has been open since 1902.

Gone or out of use
Carrizozo PlantmineL M and M MillmineSouthwest Mineral Corp Millmine
1cemetery inside Carrizozo
Evergreen

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

Questions about Carrizozo’s history

What year was Carrizozo founded?

The Carrizozo post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Carrizozo?

Three places: the Carrizozo Woman's Club (listed 2003), the Paden's Drug Store (2005) and the Carrizozo Commercial Historic District (2016).

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 (4), the Library of Congress (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.