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C+History
History · Columbus

Columbus’ post office opened in 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 9 buildings. Most of Columbus was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1920.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Columbus’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Columbus began

When was Columbus founded?

1891

The Columbus post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,110 in 19202020 census: 1,442135 years

How historic is Columbus?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Columbus post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Columbus’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Columbus is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Columbus’ overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.0% of homes (±1.8) · typical NM town 2.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 9 historic buildings, 75.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NM town 2.2 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder

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 Columbus’ 75.3 sits above most of its state (89% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Columbus’ past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1970, then grew 5-fold.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong, a National Historic Landmark.On the map since 19174 editions of the USGS map, 1917 to 1996. Watch Columbus change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Columbus, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001920194019601980200020202,110 in 1920Low: 241

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1970, then grew 5-fold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

By decade

Columbus, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s12 items
Base de los Estados Unidos1915Base de los Estados UnidosEngineers unload equipment at Columbus, (New Mexico)1915Engineers unload equipment at Columbus, (New Mexico)1st Aero Squadron - Airplane Arrival19161st Aero Squadron - Airplane Arrival1st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Military Camp19161st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Military Camp1st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Preparing Takeoff19161st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Preparing Takeoff1st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Train Arrival19161st Aero Squadron - Columbus NM Train Arrival1st Aero Squadron - Extra Wings19161st Aero Squadron - Extra Wings1st Aero Squadron Curtiss R-219161st Aero Squadron Curtiss R-2Army camp Columbus, N.M., auto truck supply train about to leave for Mexico - Shulman1916Army camp Columbus, N.M., auto truck supply train abo…Army camp Columbus, N.M., auto truck supply train about to leave for Mexico - Shulman1916Army camp Columbus, N.M., auto truck supply train abo…Columbus1916ColumbusPost Office, Columbus, N.M1916Post Office, Columbus, N.M
1920s–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
On the National Register

1 listing protects 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong
Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong★
Districts★ landmark
★ Landmark
Village of Columbus and Camp FurlongDistrict

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

The story

How Columbus came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Columbus.

Read it all →

Columbus was established in 1891 just across the Mexican border from Palomas, Chihuahua, and named after 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus. In 1902, the village center was moved 3 miles (5 km) north when the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad built its Columbus station. This station is now converted into a museum run by the Columbus Historical Society.

ChaptersEarly history (1891–1910s)1916 Pancho Villa raidFrom 1926 to the 1990s2011 gun-smuggling scandal

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Columbus, 1891 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Columbus post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915In the archiveBase de los Estados Unidos
  5. 1917On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 2,110
  7. 1975LandmarkVillage of Columbus and Camp Furlong named a National Historic Landmark
On the map

Columbus on the map, 1917 to 1996

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

Columbus on the 1917 USGS mapColumbus on the 1920 USGS mapColumbus on the 1965 USGS mapColumbus on the 1996 USGS map1917Columbus 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 Columbus.

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.

Base de los Estados Unidos
Retake this viewBase de los Estados Unidos, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Columbus

Nobody well known was born in Columbus itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
N
Nacio Herb BrownAmerican writer of popular songs, movie scores,… · b. 1896
C
Cordelia CandelariaAmerican educator and writer · b. 1943
W
Wade BlasingameAmerican baseball player · b. 1943
Craig NoelProducer · b. 1915
J
John FerejohnPolitical scientist · b. 1944
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Columbus’s post office has been open since 1891.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Border City
Gone or out of use
Columbus Stockyards Airportairport
1cemetery inside Columbus
Valley Heights

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

Help out

Finish Columbus’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBase de los Estados Unidos: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

City of the SunIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Columbus’ history

What year was Columbus founded?

The Columbus post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Columbus rank for history?

Columbus is more historic than 41% 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.

What is on the National Register in Columbus?

One place: the Village of Columbus and Camp Furlong (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Columbus?

1% of Columbus’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.