Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Red River was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1980.
The Red River post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Red River’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Red River.
Prior to the arrival of European-Americans, the area now occupied by Red River was used as a summer hunting ground by the Jicarilla Apache and Utes, who hunted big horn sheep, mule deer, elk, Mountain cottontail, and mallards, amongst other species.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2026Red River, New Mexico 2026
2016Red River Canyon
2014Red River Historic Marker
2013Red River NewMexico 2013-07-30 20-06
2012Red River, New Mexico
2011Red River Valley, high in the Sangre de Cristo Mounta…
2009Western singers at Moreno Valley Cowboy Evening, Red …
2009Red River
2009Downtown Red River, NM Picture 2016
2007Trolley 4th of July
2007Red river new mexico looking northwest
2004NMMap-doton-RedRiverEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Red River. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Red River.
Between 332 and 542 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Red River’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Red River itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Red River’s post office has been open since 1895.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Red River post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Red River Schoolhouse (listed 1984, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, 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.
