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C+History
History · Corrales

Corrales’ post office opened in 1885, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #27 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it

Most of Corrales was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the San Ysidro Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1980.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Corrales’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Corrales began

When was Corrales founded?

1885

The Corrales post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sandoval (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,791 in 19802020 census: 8,493141 years

How historic is Corrales?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Corrales’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Corrales is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #27 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Corrales’ overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.7% of homes (±3.5) · typical NM town 2.3% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NM town 2.2 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
NewerOlder
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 64%

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 Corrales’ 1.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). 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 Corrales’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Corrales’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Corrales’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 viewEl Camino Real - Byway Signage on the E…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Corrales came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Corrales.

Read it all →

The village of Corrales (Spanish for "corrals") is located along the Rio Grande and is built on the site of two Indian Pueblos settled before AD 500 by the Tiguex Indians, and which were later occupied by Spanish Colonists and explorers who colonized the region around 1540. The Spanish colonists subsequently built an adobe church on the site called the Church of San Ysidro in 1868, named after the annual fiesta de San Ysidro in May.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Corrales, 1885 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Corrales post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Sandoval post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1966Post officeThe Sandoval post office closes
  7. 1995In the archiveEl Camino Real - Byway Signage on the El Camino Real
  8. 21st century
  9. 2000Born hereJace Norman is born here
By decade

Corrales, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
El Camino Real - Byway Signage on the El Camino Real1995El Camino Real - Byway Signage on the El Camino Real
Today9 recent
Village of2022Village ofCorrales Sunset2017Corrales SunsetSolar Panels, Corrales, NM Senior Center, 20122012Solar Panels, Corrales, NM Senior Center, 2012Corrales, NM Landmark Cottonwood, 20122012Corrales, NM Landmark Cottonwood, 2012Corrales, NM Civic Center, 20122012Corrales, NM Civic Center, 2012Corrales NM Landmark Tree Plaque, 20122012Corrales NM Landmark Tree Plaque, 2012The old sign at Casa San Ysidro in2011The old sign at Casa San Ysidro inSandia Sunset2011Sandia SunsetNMMap-doton-Corrales2004NMMap-doton-Corrales
On the map

Corrales on the map, 1934 to 2006

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

Corrales on the 1934 USGS mapCorrales on the 1954 USGS mapCorrales on the 1960 USGS mapCorrales on the 1972 USGS mapCorrales on the 1990 USGS mapCorrales on the 2006 USGS map1934Alameda 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 Corrales.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Corrales

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
1980
San Ysidro Church
San Ysidro Church
Buildings
San Ysidro ChurchBuilding

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

People over time

Corrales, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001980200020208,493

Grew from 2,791 people in 1980 to 8,493 in 2020, 3 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Corrales’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Sandoval, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Corrales
1885–today
Sandoval
1899–1966
18801950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Corrales
San YsidroSandoval

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.

Rio RanchoIts storyD−Albuquerque137 historic placesA−

Questions about Corrales’ history

What year was Corrales founded?

The Corrales post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Corrales rank for history?

Corrales is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #27 of 73 in New Mexico. 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 Corrales?

One place: the San Ysidro Church (listed 1980).

How old are the homes in Corrales?

8% of Corrales’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 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 (10), 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.