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History · Chama

Chama’s post office opened in 1880, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Foster Hotel. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1970.

1880first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chama’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chama began

When was Chama founded?

1880

The Chama post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 899 in 19702020 census: 917146 years
Founding year: the first Chama post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chama’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 Chama’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chama’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 viewDenver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NM: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Chama came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chama.

Read it all →

Chama was originally part of the Tierra Amarilla Land Grant. In 1880 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad began construction of its San Juan Extension from Antonito, Colorado westward toward a mining district in the northern San Juan Basin of Colorado. The railroad needed an engine terminal for helper locomotives, near to the western foot of the steep gradient toward Cumbres Pass. It chose a site on the western bank of the Rio Chama where the railroad crossed it, for the terminal and its supporting townsite, naming the village for the river crossing. Train service began on February 1, 1881 and a post office was established that year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chama, 1880 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Chama post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereEarl Halstead Morris is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveDenver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NM
  6. 1953Born hereMariangela Pino is born here
  7. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1956Born hereBrian Baird is born here
By decade

Chama, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Denver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NM1900Denver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NMDenver & Rio Grande RR 221, 411 and 401 with eastbound freight at Lobato, NM1902Denver & Rio Grande RR 221, 411 and 401 with eastboun…D&RG 406, Class 70, with flanger and caboose, at Chama, 1907. Friends of C&TS collection1907D&RG 406, Class 70, with flanger and caboose, at Cham…
1910s–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
Today9 recent
Chama River in2024Chama River in2013 05 26 CT moc Chama ICC maps00120132013 05 26 CT moc Chama ICC maps001BookNRCSNM02048 - New Mexico (5381)(NRCS Photo Gallery)2011NRCSNM02048 - New Mexico (5381)(NRCS Photo Gallery)NRCSNM02048 - New Mexico (5381)(NRCS Photo Gallery)2011NRCSNM02048 - New Mexico (5381)(NRCS Photo Gallery)NRCSNM02047 - New Mexico (5379)(NRCS Photo Gallery)2011NRCSNM02047 - New Mexico (5379)(NRCS Photo Gallery)NRCSNM02046 - New Mexico (5377)(NRCS Photo Gallery)2011NRCSNM02046 - New Mexico (5377)(NRCS Photo Gallery)NRCSNM02045 - New Mexico (5375)(NRCS Photo Gallery)2011NRCSNM02045 - New Mexico (5375)(NRCS Photo Gallery)315 East of Chama - Flickr - drewj19462008315 East of Chama - Flickr - drewj1946NMMap-doton-Chama2004NMMap-doton-Chama
On the map

Chama on the map, 1955 to 1983

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

Chama on the 1955 USGS mapChama on the 1983 USGS map1955Chama 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 Chama.

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.

Denver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NM
Retake this viewDenver & Rio Grande RR 226, at Lobato,NM, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chama

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Foster Hotel
Foster Hotel
Buildings
Foster HotelBuilding

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

People over time

Chama, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200198020002020Peak: 1,199

Between 899 and 1,199 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Chama

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Brian BairdAmerican psychologist, politician and universit… · b. 1956
M
Mariangela PinoAmerican actress · b. 1953
Earl Halstead MorrisArchaeologist, spouse of Ann Axtell Morris · b. 1889

Questions about Chama’s history

What year was Chama founded?

The Chama post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chama?

One place: the Foster Hotel (listed 1986).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.