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History · San Ildefonso Pueblo

11% of San Ildefonso Pueblo’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1900 on.

1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From San Ildefonso Pueblo’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about San Ildefonso Pueblo’s past

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

Famous sons and daughtersMaria Martinez, Manuel Lujan and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Famous people

9 famous people were born in San Ildefonso Pueblo

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Maria MartinezNative American potter 1887-1980 · b. 1887
Manuel LujanAmerican politician · b. 1928
Julian MartinezSan Ildefonso painter and potter from New Mexico · b. 1879
Awa TsirehNative American artist · b. 1898
B
Blue CornNative American potter · b. 1920
A
Alfred AguilarSan Ildefonso artist · b. 1933
The story

How San Ildefonso Pueblo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Read it all →

The pueblo was established around 1300 and founded by people who had migrated from the Mesa Verde complex in Southern Colorado, by way of Bandelier (elevation about 7000 feet), just south of present-day Los Alamos, New Mexico. People thrived at Bandelier due to the rainfall and the ease of constructing living structures from the surrounding soft volcanic rock. But after a prolonged drought, the people moved down into the valleys of the Rio Grande around 1300 (Pueblo IV Era). The Rio Grande and other arroyos provided the water for irrigation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1879 to 1928

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Born hereJulian Martinez is born here
  3. 1887Born hereMaria Martinez is born here
  4. 1898Born hereAwa Tsireh is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archivePueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso) as viewed from the top of a hill, New Mexico, ca.…
  7. 1928Born hereManuel Lujan is born here
By decade

San Ildefonso Pueblo, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
Pueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso) as viewed from the top of a hill, New Mexico, ca.1900 (CHS-2613)c. 1900Pueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso) as viewed fro…Francisco Vigil--Govr. Pueblo San Ildefonso1900Francisco Vigil--Govr. Pueblo San IldefonsoA street scene1905A street sceneTablita dance--San Ildefonso1905Tablita dance--San IldefonsoSan Ildefonso girl1905San Ildefonso girlTewa Indian guard at top of the kiva stairs, San Ildefonso, New Mexico1905Tewa Indian guard at top of the kiva stairs, San Ilde…
1910s–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.

Pueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso) as viewed from the top of a hill, New Mexico, ca.1900 (CHS-2613)
Retake this viewPueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso) as viewed from the top of a hill, New Mexico, ca.1900 (CHS-2613), c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in San Ildefonso Pueblo

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
San Ildefonso Pueblo
San Ildefonso Pueblo
Districts
San Ildefonso PuebloDistrict

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pajarito
Gone or out of use
Black Mesa Ranchlocale

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish San Ildefonso Pueblo’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 viewPueblo of San Idelfonso (San Ildefonso)…: 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.

El RanchoIts storyB−

Questions about San Ildefonso Pueblo’s history

What is on the National Register in San Ildefonso Pueblo?

One place: the San Ildefonso Pueblo (listed 1974).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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.