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History · Dora

Dora’s post office opened in 1906, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1960.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dora’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dora began

When was Dora founded?

1906

The Dora post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 113 in 19602020 census: 117120 years
Founding year: the first Dora post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dora’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 196 in 1970; 117 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dora’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dora’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 viewDora, New Mexico. Cotton gin: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Dora, census by census

01002001960198020002020Peak: 196

Peaked at 196 in 1970; 117 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

The story so far

Dora, in brief

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

Dora is a village in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 117 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 133 to 117 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Dora, 1906 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Dora post office opens
  3. 1942In the archiveDora, New Mexico. Cotton gin
  4. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 196
  5. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dora, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Dora, New Mexico. Cotton gin1942Dora, New Mexico. Cotton ginDora, New Mexico. Cotton gin1942Dora, New Mexico. Cotton gin
1950s–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
Today1 recent
NMMap-doton-Dora2004NMMap-doton-Dora
On the map

Dora on the map, 1972 to 1984

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

Dora on the 1972 USGS mapDora on the 1984 USGS map1972Dora 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 Dora.

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.

Dora, New Mexico. Cotton gin
Retake this viewDora, New Mexico. Cotton gin, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Dora’s history

What year was Dora founded?

The Dora post office opened in 1906, 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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), 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.