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History · Mayhill

Mayhill’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Mayhill was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1963 on.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mayhill began

When was Mayhill founded?

1902

The Mayhill post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Upper Penasco (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 96124 years
Founding year: the first Mayhill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Mayhill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mayhill’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

Mayhill, in brief

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

Mayhill is an unincorporated community in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Mayhill had a population of 96. It is surrounded by the Lincoln National Forest on the eastern slope of the Sacramento Mountains, at the confluence of James Canyon and Rio Penasco, approximately 17 miles (27 km) east of Cloudcroft.

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 75 to 96 (+28%).

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

Timeline

Mayhill, 1884 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Upper Penasco post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Upper Penasco post office closes
  5. 1902Post officeThe Mayhill post office opens
  6. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Mayhill on the map, 1963 to 2004

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

Mayhill on the 1963 USGS mapMayhill on the 2004 USGS map1963Mayhill sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mayhill.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 5 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Mayhill Administrative Site
Mayhill Administrative Site
Districts
All 1 listings
Mayhill Administrative SiteDistrict · listed 1989

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Mayhill’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, Upper Penasco, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Upper Penasco
1884–1902
Mayhill
1902–today
18801950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mayhill
MayhillMountain Acres

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

Questions about Mayhill’s history

What year was Mayhill founded?

The Mayhill post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mayhill?

One place: the Mayhill Administrative Site (listed 1989).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.