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History · Cloudcroft

Cloudcroft’s post office opened in 1900, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Cloudcroft was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listings are the Mexican Canyon Trestle and the Bridge A 249-Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1950.

1900first post office
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cloudcroft’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cloudcroft began

When was Cloudcroft founded?

1900

The Cloudcroft post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 251 in 19502020 census: 750126 years
Founding year: the first Cloudcroft post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Cloudcroft came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cloudcroft.

Read it all →

In the 1890s, the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, organized by brothers Charles Bishop Eddy and John Arthur Eddy, arrived in the newly founded town of Alamogordo intending to continue the rail line north to the mining town of White Oaks and beyond. This required a steady supply of timber. In 1898 the Eddy brothers sent a survey crew into the Sacramento Mountains to determine the feasibility of extending a line up the summit to harvest the forests. The crew reported that not only was it possible, but the area could attract visitors. The name of Cloudcroft – a pasture for the clouds – was suggested and work on the line soon began.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cloudcroft, 1890 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890In the archiveCottage at Cloudcroft
  3. 1899BuiltMexican Canyon Trestle is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Cloudcroft post office opens
  6. 1938Born hereRonny Cox is born here
  7. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cloudcroft, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s8 items
Cottage at Cloudcroft1890Cottage at CloudcroftCloudcroft, where the violets bloom1890Cloudcroft, where the violets bloomLooking toward Cloudcroft from scenic railway1890Looking toward Cloudcroft from scenic railwayWild flower gulch, Chautauqua Glen1890Wild flower gulch, Chautauqua GlenA Mountain farm1890A Mountain farmHazel Kirk's mill1890Hazel Kirk's millHomeward bound1890Homeward boundOn the golf links1890On the golf links
1900s–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
Today4 recent
Steep grades sign2008Steep grades signBear-proof garbage can2008Bear-proof garbage canFormica lasioides casent0102797 label 12005Formica lasioides casent0102797 label 1NMMap-doton-Cloudcroft2004NMMap-doton-Cloudcroft
On the map

Cloudcroft on the map, 1952 to 2004

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

Cloudcroft on the 1952 USGS mapCloudcroft on the 1977 USGS mapCloudcroft on the 2004 USGS map1952Cloudcroft 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 Cloudcroft.

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.

Cottage at Cloudcroft
Retake this viewCottage at Cloudcroft, 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Cloudcroft

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Mexican Canyon Trestle
Mexican Canyon Trestle, built 1899Bridge A 249-Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Structures
Mexican Canyon TrestleBuilt 1899
All 2 listings
Bridge A 249-Cloudcroft, New MexicoStructure · listed 2015

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

People over time

Cloudcroft, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020750

Grew from 251 people in 1950 to 750 in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cloudcroft

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

See all →
Ronny CoxAmerican actor and musician · b. 1938
J
Jonathan HenryAmerican politician
Help out

Finish Cloudcroft’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCottage at Cloudcroft: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Cloudcroft’s history

What year was Cloudcroft founded?

The Cloudcroft post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cloudcroft?

Two places: the Mexican Canyon Trestle (listed 1979) and the Bridge A 249-Cloudcroft, New Mexico (2015).

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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.