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History · Eagle Nest

Eagle Nest’s post office opened in 1935, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Eagle Nest was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Eagle Nest Dam. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1963 on, and the census since 1980.

1935first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eagle Nest’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eagle Nest began

When was Eagle Nest founded?

1935

The Eagle Nest post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Therma (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 202 in 19802020 census: 31591 years
Founding year: the first Eagle Nest post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Eagle Nest’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eagle Nest’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eagle Nest’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 viewEagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic chur…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Eagle Nest, in brief

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

Eagle Nest is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, Eagle Nest had a population of 315. Located along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Eagle Nest is a small summer-home and resort destination. Originally named Therma, the village was renamed Eagle Nest in the 1930s. The town is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains) in northern New Mexico near the Colorado border.

Its first post office opened in 1935. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 290 to 315 (+9%).

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

Timeline

Eagle Nest, 1920 to 1963

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1920Post officeThe Therma post office opens
  3. 1935Post officeThe Therma post office closes
  4. 1935Post officeThe Eagle Nest post office opens
  5. 1943In the archiveEagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic church
  6. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Eagle Nest, decade by decade

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

1940s1 item
Eagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic church1943Eagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic church
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
Today4 recent
New Mexico - Eagle Nest Lodge2015New Mexico - Eagle Nest LodgeEagle Nest2009Eagle NestDowntown Eagle Pass Lake, NM Picture 19962009Downtown Eagle Pass Lake, NM Picture 1996NMMap-doton-EagleNest2004NMMap-doton-EagleNest
On the map

Eagle Nest on the map, 1963 to 1995

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

Eagle Nest on the 1963 USGS mapEagle Nest on the 1995 USGS map1963Eagle Nest 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 Eagle Nest.

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.

Eagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic church
Retake this viewEagle Nest, New Mexico. A Catholic church, 1943

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Eagle Nest

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
1979
Eagle Nest Dam
Eagle Nest Dam
Structures
Eagle Nest DamStructure

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

People over time

Eagle Nest, census by census

0100200300198020002020Peak: 315

Between 189 and 315 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Eagle Nest

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

See all →
C
Chiara AureliaAmerican actress · b. 2002
David HykesAmerican music therapist · b. 1953
Chief OurayUte chief · b. 1833
Agnes Morley CleavelandAmerican writer · b. 1874
Benigno C. HernándezAmerican politician · b. 1862
R
Ruthanna HopperAmerican writer · b. 1972
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Eagle Nest’s post office has been open since 1935. Another post office, Therma, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Therma
1920–1935
Eagle Nest
1935–today
19201970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Virginia City
Gone or out of use
Eagle Nest Landing Stripairport

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

Questions about Eagle Nest’s history

What year was Eagle Nest founded?

The Eagle Nest post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Eagle Nest?

One place: the Eagle Nest Dam (listed 1979).

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