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History · Magdalena

Magdalena’s post office opened in 1880, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

15 places in town are on the National Register.

1880first post office
15on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Magdalena began

When was Magdalena founded?

1880

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

2020 census: 806146 years
Founding year: the first Magdalena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Magdalena’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 Magdalena are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register15 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Magdalena’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Magdalena’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Magdalena’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
On the National Register

15 historic places in Magdalena

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

places listed
15
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
16
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Depot
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Depot, built 1915Aragon House, built 1915Bank of MagdalenaGutierrez HouseHall HotelHilton HouseIlfeld Warehouse, built 1913Lewellen HouseMacTavish House, built 1915Magdaline HouseMain Street Commercial BuildingSalome StoreSalome WarehouseClemens Ranchhouse, built 1910MacDonald Merchandise Building
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission/Spanish Revival2
Queen Anne1
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway DepotBuilt 1915
Aragon HouseBuilt 1915
Bank of MagdalenaBuilding
Gutierrez HouseBuilding
Hall HotelBuilding
Hilton HouseBuilding
Ilfeld WarehouseMission/Spanish Revival · Built 1913
Lewellen HouseBuilding
All 15 listings
MacTavish HouseBuilding · listed 1982Magdaline HouseBuilding · listed 1982Main Street Commercial BuildingBuilding · listed 1982Salome StoreBuilding · listed 1982Salome WarehouseBuilding · listed 1982Clemens RanchhouseBuilding · listed 1979MacDonald Merchandise BuildingBuilding · listed 1980

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

The story

How Magdalena came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Magdalena.

Read it all →

In 1884, the village of Magdalena was named after Magdalena Peak when its post office opened. Magdalena was incorporated as a town in 1913, during a mining boom.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Magdalena, 1880 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Magdalena post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913BuiltIlfeld Warehouse is built
  5. 1915BuiltAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Depot is built
  6. 1915BuiltAragon House is built
  7. 1915BuiltMacTavish House is built
By decade

Magdalena, decade by decade

Today1 recent
NMMap-doton-Magdalena2004NMMap-doton-Magdalena
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Magdalena’s post office has been open since 1880.

Gone or out of use
CavaliermineGraphic WaldomineKelly MinemineWaldo Tunnelmine
1cemetery inside Magdalena
Magdalena Community

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

Questions about Magdalena’s history

What year was Magdalena founded?

The Magdalena 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 Magdalena?

15 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Depot (listed 1978, the first). 16 historic buildings in all.

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 (1), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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.