San Miguel del Vado Historic District · Photo: Cmarrou · CC BY-SA 3.0

–Not graded

History · Ribera

Ribera’s post office opened in 1894, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Ribera was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: maps from 1960 on.

1894first post office

1on the National Register

8%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Ribera began

When was Ribera founded?

1894

The Ribera post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, San Miguel (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 314132 years

Founding year: the first Ribera post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ribera’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ribera are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ribera’s homes were built before 1957.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ribera’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ribera’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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The story so far

Ribera, in brief

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

Ribera is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in San Miguel County, New Mexico. Located in the northern part of the state, it is at the foot of Rowe Mesa and along the Pecos River, 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Santa Fe. As of the 2020 census, Ribera had a population of 314.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 416 to 314 (-25%).

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

Timeline

Ribera, 1851 to 1960

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

19th century
1851Post officeThe San Miguel post office opens
1894Post officeThe Ribera post office opens
20th century
1910Post officeThe San Miguel post office closes
1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Ribera on the map, 1960 to 2002

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

1960Villanueva 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 Ribera.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 7 historic buildings

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1972

San Miguel del Vado Historic District

Districts

San Miguel del Vado Historic DistrictDistrict

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ribera

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

See all →

Wally FunkAmerican aviator and astronaut · b. 1939

Bruce KingAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1924

Teresa Leger FernandezAmerican attorney and politician · b. 1959

Ezequiel Cabeza De BacaGovernor of New Mexico · b. 1864

Gary KingAmerican attorney and politician · b. 1954

Eleanor Spiess-FerrisAmerican painter · b. 1941

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Ribera’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, San Miguel, opened and closed inside today’s town.

San Miguel

1851–1910

Ribera

1894–today

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

CorucoSan Miguel

Gone or out of use

San Miguel Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Ribera’s history

What year was Ribera founded?

The Ribera post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Ribera?

One place: the San Miguel del Vado Historic District (listed 1972).

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.

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