Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Lordsburg was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1920.
Lordsburg dates its founding to 1880 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lordsburg is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Lordsburg’s 38.9 sits above most of its state (82% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 3,525 in 1950; 2,335 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lordsburg’s Wikipedia page.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1907Arizona & New Mexico Railway Advertisement 1907
1917New Mexico - Florida Mountains through
1937Drought refugees stopped along the highway near Lords…
1937Three related Oklahoma drought refugee families near …
1937Oklahoma drought refugees stalled on highway near Lor…
1937Oklahoma drought refugees stalled on highway near Lor…
1937Drought refugee families from Oklahoma on road to Ros…
1937Three related drought refugee families from Oklahoma …
1937Three related drought refugee families stalled on the…
1938The highway going West. U.S. 80 near Lordsburg, New M…Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1902Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lordsburg.
Lordsburg was founded in 1880 on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Continental Divide Trail starts at the Crazy Cook Monument and travels through Lordsburg. Local lore is that Billy the Kid washed dishes in Lordsburg hotel kitchens such as the Stratford Hotel, and La Fonda, the historic "inn at the end of the Santa Fe Trail" during his teenage years.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveArizona & New Mexico Railway Advertisement 1907In the archiveNew Mexico - Florida Mountains through
BuiltLordsburg-Hidalgo County Library is builtIn the archiveDrought refugees stopped along the highway near Lordsburg, New Mexico
In the archiveJapanese internees Camp Lordsburg New Mexico World War II
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lordsburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lordsburg.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lordsburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Lordsburg’s post office has been open since 1881.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1880, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lordsburg’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1920 counted 1,325 people here.
Lordsburg is more historic than 57% 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 historic district, the Shakespeare Ghost Town, with 5 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.
10% of Lordsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2010
2009