Deming’s post office opened in 1881, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #19 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Most of Deming was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 63 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1910.
The Deming post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rio Mimbres (1866), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,864 in 19102020 census: 14,758145 years
How historic is Deming?
B
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Deming post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Deming’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deming is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #19 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Deming’s overall grade.
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 Deming’s 44.0 sits above most of its state (84% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 67 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±2.0 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 Deming’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Deming on the map, 1899 to 1996
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Deming. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Deming sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Deming.
Every building
Deming, building by building, 1886–1908
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The city is within the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, which was acquired from Mexico specifically to provide a southern route for a railroad to connect the United States with California. Deming was founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1902, and is named after Mary Ann Deming Crocker, wife of Charles Crocker, one of the Big Four of the California railroad industry. The settlement used to be named Rio Mimbres. The Silver Spike was driven here on March 8, 1881, to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Rio Grande, Mexico and Pacific (a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) railroads. This was the second transcontinental railroad to be completed in North America.
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.
The Deming post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Deming rank for history?
Deming is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #19 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 Deming?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Luna County Courthouse and Park (listed 1977, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown Deming Historic District, with 63 contributing buildings. 67 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Deming?
6% of Deming’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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