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History · La Mesa

La Mesa’s post office opened in 1880, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the San Jose Church and the Frank and Amelia Jones House. Below: maps from 1943 on.

1880first post office
2on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How La Mesa began

When was La Mesa founded?

1880

The La Mesa post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 649146 years
Founding year: the first La Mesa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about La Mesa’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of La Mesa are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Mesa’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Mesa’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

La Mesa, in brief

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

La Mesa is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, La Mesa had a population of 649. La Mesa has a post office with ZIP code 88044. NM 28 passes through the community.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 728 to 649 (-11%).

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

Timeline

La Mesa, 1868 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868BuiltSan Jose Church is built
  3. 1880Post officeThe La Mesa post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe La Mesa post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904BuiltFrank and Amelia Jones House is built
  7. 1908Post officeThe La Mesa post office opens
  8. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

La Mesa, decade by decade

Today3 recent
National Historic site2017National Historic siteJones House2014Jones HouseSan Jose Catholic Church2009San Jose Catholic Church
On the map

La Mesa on the map, 1943 to 1996

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

La Mesa on the 1943 USGS mapLa Mesa on the 1955 USGS mapLa Mesa on the 1996 USGS map1943La Mesa 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 La Mesa.

On the National Register

2 historic places in La Mesa

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
San Jose Church
San Jose Church, built 1868
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Spanish-Pueblo1
San Jose ChurchMission/Spanish Colonial Revival · Built 1868
Frank and Amelia Jones HouseBuilt 1904

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

Famous people

Famous people close to La Mesa

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

See all →
Debbie ReynoldsAmerican actress, singer, and dancer · b. 1932
G
Gene RoddenberryAmerican television screenwriter and producer · b. 1921
S
Sandra Day O'ConnorAmerican lawyer and jurist · b. 1930
A
Alan TudykAmerican actor · b. 1971
Anwar al-AwlakiAmerican-Yemeni imam and suspected Islamist ext… · b. 1971
M
Marcell JacobsItalian athlete · b. 1994
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

La Mesa had its own post office from 1880 to 1882.

La Mesa
1880–1882
La Mesa
1908–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
La Mesa Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside La Mesa
San Jose

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

Questions about La Mesa’s history

What year was La Mesa founded?

The La Mesa post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in La Mesa?

Two places: the San Jose Church (listed 1993) and the Frank and Amelia Jones House (2014).

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.