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History · Mescalero

Mescalero’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Mescalero was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the St. Joseph Apache Mission Church. Its Register listing is the St. Joseph Apache Mission Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1927 on.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mescalero’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mescalero began

When was Mescalero founded?

1887

The Mescalero post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, South Fork (1875) and White Sulphur Springs (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,480139 years
Founding year: the first Mescalero post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mescalero’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mescalero, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mescalero’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWhere Billy the Kid had two of his batt…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Mescalero’s post office has been open since 1887. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

South Fork
1875–1887
White Sulphur Springs
1875–1875
Mescalero
1887–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Blazers Mill
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mescalero
BlazersMescalero Indian

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

The story

How Mescalero came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mescalero.

Read it all →

The settlement was originally called Blazer's Mill, the location of a famous gunfight during the Lincoln County War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mescalero, 1875 to 1927

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe South Fork post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe White Sulphur Springs post office opens
  4. 1875Post officeThe White Sulphur Springs post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe South Fork post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Mescalero post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1927In the archiveWhere Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s Mill and Springs
By decade

Mescalero, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Where Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s Mill and Springsc. 1927Where Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s…Where Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s Millc. 1927Where Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s…
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
A dog on the Old Road2011A dog on the Old RoadNMMap-doton-Mescalero2004NMMap-doton-MescaleroMillsmap2000Millsmap
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Where Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s Mill and Springs
Retake this viewWhere Billy the Kid had two of his battles - Blazer’s Mill and Springs, c. 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mescalero’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Mescalero

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
St. Joseph Apache Mission Church
St. Joseph Apache Mission Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Gothic Revival1
St. Joseph Apache Mission ChurchLate Gothic Revival

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BentIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mescalero’s history

What year was Mescalero founded?

The Mescalero post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mescalero?

One place: the St. Joseph Apache Mission Church (listed 2005).

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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.