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History · Placitas

Half of Placitas’ homes were built after 2011

Most of Placitas was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1943 on.

0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Placitas’ archive · credits on each photo
The story so far

Placitas, in brief

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

Placitas is a census-designated place in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 576 as of the 2010 census. The community is along the western border of Hatch.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 576 to 488 (-15%).

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

By decade

Placitas, decade by decade

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

1940s5 items
Placitas, New Mexico1943Placitas, New MexicoPlacitas, New Mexico. On the Rio Pueblo1943Placitas, New Mexico. On the Rio PuebloPlacitas, New Mexico. On the Rio Pueblo1943Placitas, New Mexico. On the Rio PuebloPlacitas, New Mexico. On the Rio Pueblo1943Placitas, New Mexico. On the Rio PuebloUntitled photo, possibly related to: Placitas, New Mexico. On the Rio Pueblo1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Placitas, New Me…
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
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.

Placitas, New Mexico
Retake this viewPlacitas, New Mexico, 1943

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Placitas

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

See all →
Anwar al-AwlakiAmerican-Yemeni imam and suspected Islamist ext… · b. 1971
Shawnacy BarberCanadian pole vaulter · b. 1994
Edgar CastilloMexican-American soccer player · b. 1986
André RobersonAmerican basketball player · b. 1991
Aaron HerreraGuatemalan-American soccer player · b. 1997
Micah LawrenceAmerican swimmer · b. 1990
Help out

Finish Placitas’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.
Retake an old viewPlacitas, New Mexico: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HatchIts storyC−

Questions about Placitas’ history

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 Library of Congress (5) 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.