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History · Cordova

Cordova’s post office opened in 1900, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Cordova was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Its Register listing is the San Antonio de Padua del Quemado Chapel. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1900first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cordova’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cordova began

When was Cordova founded?

1900

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

2020 census: 380126 years
Founding year: the first Cordova post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cordova’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 Cordova’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCorral near Cordova, New Mexico: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Cordova, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cordova yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cordova is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Cordova had a population of 380.

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 414 to 380 (-8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cordova, 1832 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832BuiltSan Antonio de Padua del Quemado Chapel is built
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Cordova post office opens
  5. 1935In the archiveCorral near Cordova, New Mexico
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cordova, decade by decade

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

1930s2 items
Corral near Cordova, New Mexico1935Corral near Cordova, New MexicoStreet of Mexican village up in the hills. Cordova, New Mexico1935Street of Mexican village up in the hills. Cordova, 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
Date unknown1 to date
Picturesque Village of Cordova, North of Santa Fe, Fred Harvey (NBY 20084)Date?Picturesque Village of Cordova, North of Santa Fe, Fr…
Today5 recent
Mountain view near Cordova, a village toward the southern end of what's called the "High Road," a winding route through…2021Mountain view near Cordova, a village toward the sout…Mountain view near Cordova, a village toward the southern end of what's called the "High Road," a winding route through…2021Mountain view near Cordova, a village toward the sout…Cordova2015CordovaCastillo Gallery2015Castillo GalleryCordova Nm2011Cordova Nm
On the map

Cordova on the map, 1953 to 1995

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

Cordova on the 1953 USGS mapCordova on the 1977 USGS mapCordova on the 1995 USGS map1953Truchas 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 Cordova.

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.

Corral near Cordova, New Mexico
Retake this viewCorral near Cordova, New Mexico, 1935

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Cordova

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
San Antonio de Padua del Quemado Chapel
San Antonio de Padua del Quemado Chapel, built 1832
Buildings
All 1 listings
San Antonio de Padua del Quemado ChapelBuilding · listed 1978

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Cordova’s post office has been open since 1900.

Gone or out of use
Cordova Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cordova
Campo SantoCordovaSan Miguel

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

TruchasIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cordova’s history

What year was Cordova founded?

The Cordova 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 Cordova?

One place: the San Antonio de Padua del Quemado Chapel (listed 1978).

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