Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Nogal

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 · Nogal

Nogal’s post office opened in 1882, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Nogal was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1934 on.

1882first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nogal’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nogal began

When was Nogal founded?

1882

The Nogal post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Galena (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 105144 years
Founding year: the first Nogal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Nogal’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nogal’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nogal’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 viewNew Mexico: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Nogal, in brief

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

Nogal is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Nogal had a population of 105. Nogal has a post office with ZIP code 88341, which opened on November 9, 1880.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 96 to 105 (+9%).

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

Timeline

Nogal, 1880 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Galena post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Galena post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Nogal post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1917In the archiveNew Mexico
  7. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Nogal, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
New Mexico1917New Mexico
1920s–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
Today4 recent
Rainbowed2010RainbowedNogal2010NogalCurve2010CurveNogal Mercantile2009Nogal Mercantile
On the map

Nogal on the map, 1934 to 2004

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

Nogal on the 1934 USGS mapNogal on the 1973 USGS mapNogal on the 2004 USGS map1934Capitan 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 Nogal.

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.

New Mexico
Retake this viewNew Mexico, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Nogal

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Aguayo Family Homestead
Aguayo Family HomesteadMesa Ranger Station Barn, Lincoln County, New Mexico
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Adobe House1
Log Outbuildings1
All 2 listings
Aguayo Family HomesteadDistrict · listed 1995Mesa Ranger Station Barn, Lincoln County, New MexicoBuilding · listed 2025

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Nogal

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

See all →
Tristan GaleAmerican skeleton racer · b. 1980
Yvette HerrellAmerican politician and realtor · b. 1964
E
Earl Reece StadtmanAmerican biochemist · b. 1919
C
Cody WillardAmerican writer · b. 1972
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Nogal’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Galena, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Galena
1880–1882
Nogal
1882–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
A P Livingston MinemineAmericanmineAmerican MinemineBig Spring MinemineBill DaomineContention MinemineCopper ClaimmineCorrection MinemineEdith MinemineEmma MinemineGrover ClevelandmineHancock MinemineHelen Rae MinemineLeonamineLittle MinneminePeggy MinemineRochellemineSchaennamine

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

Questions about Nogal’s history

What year was Nogal founded?

The Nogal post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Nogal?

Two places: the Aguayo Family Homestead (listed 1995) and the Mesa Ranger Station Barn, Lincoln County, New Mexico (2025).

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 (2), 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.