Most of Jal was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Jal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jal’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jal is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jal’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 Jal’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 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 Jal’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
During the early 1900s, the Cowden boys of Midland, Texas moved the entire John A. Lynch herd to the Monument draw, about 6 miles northeast of present-day Jal. All the cattle were branded with the JAL brand from shoulder to hip. In the process of trying to rebrand the Cowdens, they found it too big a task so they registered the brand under their name in Silver City, New Mexico Territory.
In 1913, Charles Justis (a merchant) applied for a post office under the name "Jal" to open six miles east of the city of Jal. However, in 1916, Jal became drought-stricken and the store and post office were relocated to Muleshoe Wells and the city of Jal was established in its present location.
The Jal post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Jal rank for history?
Jal is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. 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 Jal?
1% of Jal’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.
2004
