On its age, its old homes and the National Register, El Cerro Mission is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #62 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of El Cerro Mission’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 El Cerro Mission’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 El Cerro Mission’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of El Cerro Mission yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
El Cerro Mission is a census-designated place (CDP) in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, El Cerro Mission had a population of 4,566. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Census Bureau previously considered El Cerro Mission and the neighboring community of Monterey Park to be a single CDP, El Cerro-Monterey Park. The CDP was split prior to the 2010 Census.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,657 in 2010, 4,566 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of El Cerro Mission. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Los Lunas 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 El Cerro Mission.
Famous people
Famous people close to El Cerro Mission
Nobody well known was born in El Cerro Mission itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
El Cerro Mission is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #62 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.
How old are the homes in El Cerro Mission?
0.0% of El Cerro Mission’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1999.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
