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History · Quemado

Quemado’s post office opened in 1886

Most of Quemado was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1967 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Quemado’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Quemado began

When was Quemado founded?

1886

The Quemado post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 163140 years
Founding year: the first Quemado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Quemado, in brief

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

Quemado is a census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Quemado had a population of 163. Walter De Maria's 1977 art installation, The Lightning Field, is between Quemado and Pie Town, New Mexico.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 228 to 163 (-29%).

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

Timeline

Quemado, 1886 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Quemado post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1940In the archiveCowboy at Rodeo
  5. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Quemado, decade by decade

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

1940s6 items
Cowboy at Rodeo1940Cowboy at RodeoRussellrodeo1940RussellrodeoCottonwood. Quemado, New Mexico1940Cottonwood. Quemado, New MexicoCottonwood grove. Quemado, New Mexico1940Cottonwood grove. Quemado, New MexicoCowboy at rodeo1940Cowboy at rodeoCowboy at rodeo1940Cowboy at rodeo
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
On the map

Quemado on the map, 1967 to 1983

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

Quemado on the 1967 USGS mapQuemado on the 1983 USGS map1967Quemado 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 Quemado.

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.

Cowboy at Rodeo
Retake this viewCowboy at Rodeo, 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Quemado’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 viewCowboy at Rodeo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Quemado’s history

What year was Quemado founded?

The Quemado post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), 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.