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History · Malaga

Malaga’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Malaga was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1945 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Malaga began

When was Malaga founded?

1892

The Malaga post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 112134 years
Founding year: the first Malaga post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Malaga’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 Malaga are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Malaga’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Malaga, in brief

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

Malaga is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Malaga had a population of 112. Malaga has a post office with ZIP code 88263. U.S. Route 285 passes through the community. Formerly known as Kirkwell, Malaga was founded in the 1890s by Swiss immigrants and was named after the Spanish city of Málaga. Italian laborers were recruited to farm the area, and many settled in Malaga. It is within the Carlsbad Municipal School District, which operates Carlsbad High School. Malaga is on the Pecos Highway approximately 18 miles southeast of Carlsbad. The Pecos River flows past two miles east of the community.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 147 to 112 (-24%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Malaga on the map, 1945 to 1985

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

Malaga on the 1945 USGS mapMalaga on the 1985 USGS map1945Malaga 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 Malaga.

Famous people

Famous people close to Malaga

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

See all →
Bruce CabotActor · b. 1904
F. Drew GaffneyAmerican astronaut · b. 1946
J
Joseph HardyAmerican film director · b. 1929
Georgia Lee LuskAmerican politician · b. 1893
S
Sandra AdairAmerican film editor · b. 1952
Trevor RogersAmerican baseball player · b. 1997

Questions about Malaga’s history

What year was Malaga founded?

The Malaga post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.