Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mountainair

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mountainair

Mountainair dates to 1902, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1920.

1902founded
4on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mountainair’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mountainair began

When was Mountainair founded?

1902

Mountainair dates its founding to 1902 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 577 in 19202020 census: 884124 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1903.

What stands out about Mountainair’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,605 in 1960; 884 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19173 editions of the USGS map, 1917 to 1986. Watch Mountainair change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · People over time

Mountainair, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,605

Peaked at 1,605 in 1960; 884 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mountainair’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Mountainair on the map, 1917 to 1986

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

Mountainair on the 1917 USGS mapMountainair on the 1979 USGS mapMountainair on the 1986 USGS map1917Estancia sheet · 1:125,000

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

On the National Register

4 historic places in Mountainair

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Shaffer Hotel
Shaffer HotelRancho Bonito, built 1930Mountainair Municipal Auditorium, built 1934Willard Mercantile Company
Buildings
Shaffer HotelBuilding
Rancho BonitoBuilt 1930
Mountainair Municipal AuditoriumBuilt 1934
Willard Mercantile CompanyBuilding

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

The story so far

Mountainair, in brief

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

Mountainair is a town in Torrance County, New Mexico, United States. It was founded in 1902 by John Corbett, Colonel E. C. Manning, and Elias S. Stover. The population was 884 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The main visitor center for Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is located within the town.

Mountainair was established in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 928 to 884 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Mountainair, 1902 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902
    FoundingMountainair is established
  3. 1903Post officeThe Mountainair post office opens
  4. 1917On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1930BuiltRancho Bonito is built
  6. 1934BuiltMountainair Municipal Auditorium is built
  7. 1943In the archiveMountainair, New Mexico. Countryside along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad bet…
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,605
By decade

Mountainair, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s7 items
Mountainair, New Mexico. Countryside along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, New Mex…1943Mountainair, New Mexico. Countryside along the Atchis…Mountainair, New Mexico. A cultivated field along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, …1943Mountainair, New Mexico. A cultivated field along the…Mountainair, New Mexico. A cultivated field along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, …1943Mountainair, New Mexico. A cultivated field along the…Mountainair (vicinity), New Mexico. Landscape along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad1943Mountainair (vicinity), New Mexico. Landscape along t…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mountainair, New Mexico. A cultivated field along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa F…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mountainair, New…Mountainair, New Mexico. Going down the mountain on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, between Vaughn and Bele…1943Mountainair, New Mexico. Going down the mountain on t…Mountainair, New Mexico. Going through the town on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen,…1943Mountainair, New Mexico. Going through the town on th…
1950s–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
Date unknown2 to date
Salinas pueblo missions HQDate?Salinas pueblo missions HQMissions of San Buenaventura & San Isidro, New Mexico Highway 14Date?Missions of San Buenaventura & San Isidro, New Mexico…
Today3 recent
Mountainair Middle School2025Mountainair Middle SchoolMountainair Football Stadium2025Mountainair Football StadiumNMMap-doton-Mountainair2004NMMap-doton-Mountainair
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.

Mountainair, New Mexico. Countryside along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, New Mex…
Retake this viewMountainair, New Mexico. Countryside along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, New Mex…, 1943

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mountainair

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

See all →
Mariano S. OteroAmerican politician · b. 1844
Rosa Maria CallesAmerican playwright · b. 1949
Help out

Finish Mountainair’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMountainair, New Mexico. Countryside al…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Mountainair’s history

What year was Mountainair founded?

In 1902, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mountainair’s post office opened in 1903, and the census of 1920 counted 577 people here.

What is on the National Register in Mountainair?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Shaffer Hotel (listed 1978, the first). 8 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 (4), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.