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History · Jemez Springs

Jemez Springs’ post office opened in 1907, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Jemez Springs was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1960.

1907first post office
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Jemez Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Jemez Springs began

When was Jemez Springs founded?

1907

The Jemez Springs post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 223 in 19602020 census: 198119 years
Founding year: the first Jemez Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jemez Springs’ 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 413 in 1990; 198 people lived here in 2020.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including San Jose de los Jemez Mission and Giusewa Pueblo Site, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jemez Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jemez Springs’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJemez Springs, c.1890: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Jemez Springs, census by census

01002003004001960198020002020Peak: 413

Peaked at 413 in 1990; 198 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in Jemez Springs

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
San Jose de los Jemez Mission and Giusewa Puebl…
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Jemez State Monument
Jemez State Monument, built 1623
Sites★ landmark
Jemez State MonumentBuilt 1623
All 2 listings
San Jose de los Jemez Mission and Giusewa Pueblo SitePlace · listed 2012

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

The story

How Jemez Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jemez Springs.

Read it all →

The Jemez Valley is thought to have been inhabited for the last 4500 years. The Spaniards who visited the area beginning in 1540 reported multiple Native American pueblos (villages), in the valley. The Franciscan mission church San José de los Jemez was built just to the north of the current village in 1621 but was abandoned around the 1640s. Today the ruins are the site of Jemez State Monument. Following the Pueblo Revolt the Jemez people began converging at the current Pueblo of Jemez. In the nineteenth century the valley was given over to mostly agrarian and pastoral uses.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jemez Springs, 1623 to 2012

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1623BuiltJemez State Monument is built
  3. 19th century
  4. 1890In the archiveJemez Springs, c.1890
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Post officeThe Jemez Springs post office opens
  7. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 413
  9. 21st century
  10. 2012LandmarkSan Jose de los Jemez Mission and Giusewa Pueblo Site named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Jemez Springs, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Jemez Springs, c.18901890Jemez Springs, c.1890
1900s–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
Today5 recent
Jemez Valley Hot Springs2021Jemez Valley Hot SpringsBandelier Tuff San Diego Canyon2020Bandelier Tuff San Diego CanyonBandelier Tuff San Diego Canyon legend2020Bandelier Tuff San Diego Canyon legendJemez springs nm 20092009Jemez springs nm 2009NMMap-doton-JemezSprings2004NMMap-doton-JemezSprings
On the map

Jemez Springs on the map, 1944 to 2002

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

Jemez Springs on the 1944 USGS mapJemez Springs on the 1952 USGS mapJemez Springs on the 1970 USGS mapJemez Springs on the 2002 USGS map1944Jemez Springs sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jemez Springs.

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.

Jemez Springs, c.1890
Retake this viewJemez Springs, c.1890, 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Jemez Springs

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

See all →
Michelle Lujan GrishamGovernor of New Mexico since 2019 · b. 1959
Stephen WaltAmerican political scientist · b. 1955
Alexandr WangFounder CEO at Scale AI · b. 1997
Maria MartinezNative American potter 1887-1980 · b. 1887
Joseph MontoyaAmerican politician · b. 1915
Manuel LujanAmerican politician · b. 1928

Questions about Jemez Springs’ history

What year was Jemez Springs founded?

The Jemez Springs post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Jemez Springs?

Two places: the San Jose de los Jemez Mission and Giusewa Pueblo Site (listed 2012) and the Jemez State Monument (1973).

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