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History · Costilla

Costilla’s post office opened in 1872

Most of Costilla was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1956. Below: 18 old photos and papers and maps from 1963 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Costilla’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Costilla began

When was Costilla founded?

1872

The Costilla post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 177154 years
Founding year: the first Costilla post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Costilla’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.Old housesHalf of Costilla’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · By decade

Costilla, decade by decade

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

1930s18 items
RugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped)1939RugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped)RugMakingWomanPassesShuttle1939RugMakingWomanPassesShuttleRussellrug1939RussellrugRussellrug21939Russellrug2Russellspinner1939RussellspinnerWoman Weaving WPA1939Woman Weaving WPAWomen Working for the WPA1939Women Working for the WPAPost office. Costilla, New Mexico1939Post office. Costilla, New MexicoSagebrush near Costilla, New Mexico1939Sagebrush near Costilla, New MexicoPlaza of Costilla, near the Colorado line, New Mexico1939Plaza of Costilla, near the Colorado line, New MexicoSagebrush country near Costilla, New Mexico1939Sagebrush country near Costilla, New MexicoInterior of weaving project shop. Costilla, New Mexico1939Interior of weaving project shop. Costilla, New MexicoShop of Spanish-American weaving project. Costilla, New Mexico1939Shop of Spanish-American weaving project. Costilla, N…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Post office. Costilla, New Mexico1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Post office. Cos…Door and window in a Spanish-American home1939Door and window in a Spanish-American homeScene in the sagebrush country south of Costilla, New Mexico. Taos County1939Scene in the sagebrush country south of Costilla, New…Weaving rag rug at WPA (Works Progress Administrrtion/Work Projects Administration) project. Costilla, New Mexico1939Weaving rag rug at WPA (Works Progress Administrrtion…WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Administration) weaving project supervisor making skeins of thread. Co…1939WPA (Works Progress Administration/Work Projects Admi…
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
The story

How Costilla came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Costilla.

Read it all →

The village of Costilla was originally known as San Miguel, named after its church. On November 1, 1861, the Territory of Colorado created 17 original counties, with San Miguel as the original seat of Costilla County, Colorado Territory. When its post office opened on November 13, 1862, the village selected the new name Costilla, perhaps in recognition of its new status. In 1863, county voters decided to move the county seat 17 miles (27 km) north to San Luis. In 1869, a U.S. government survey determined that Costilla was actually located in the Taos County, New Mexico Territory. It wasn't until October 21, 1872, that the village post office was officially renamed Costilla, New Mexico Territory.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Costilla, 1872 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Costilla post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939In the archiveRugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped)
  5. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Costilla on the map in 1963

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Costilla.

Costilla on the 1963 USGS map1963Costilla 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 Costilla.

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.

RugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped)
Retake this viewRugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped), 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Costilla

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

See all →
Jack DempseyAmerican boxer · b. 1895
J
Joe MondragonWoody Herman's Band Member (1946) , In 50's :Ge… · b. 1920
C
Carlos CisnerosAmerican politician · b. 1948
C
Carlos F. LuceroAmerican judge · b. 1940
E
Erinea Garcia GallegosAmerican educator and postmaser · b. 1903
L
Larry E. Trujillo Sr.American politician · b. 1940
Help out

Finish Costilla’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 viewRugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Costilla’s history

What year was Costilla founded?

The Costilla post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), the Library of Congress (11), Wikipedia, 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.