La Cienega’s post office opened in 1906, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #37 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Most of La Cienega was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: maps from 1953 on.
Founding year: the first La Cienega post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives La Cienega’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, La Cienega is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #37 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of La Cienega’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 La Cienega’s 84.7 sits above most of its state (91% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 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 La Cienega’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The historical Village of La Cienega is surrounded by multiple springs and the spring brooks they feed, where, due to the geology, the aquifer rises to the surface. For many centuries these springs have been used for agriculture and as a source of water for the settlement of a historical pueblo of the Keres people. The former La Cienega Pueblo site contains archaeological evidence of "probable water catchment features" as well as petroglyphs on the basalt cliffs, and ruins of prehistoric room blocks at the site of the historic La Cienega Pithouse Village that are believed, by archaeologists, to be used for both ceremonial and domestic purposes.
The La Cienega post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does La Cienega rank for history?
La Cienega is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #37 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.
What is on the National Register in La Cienega?
Three places: the Acequia System of El Rancho de las Golondrinas (listed 1980), the El Rancho de las Golondrinas (2022) and the J.B. Jackson House (1999).
How old are the homes in La Cienega?
0.4% of La Cienega’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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