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History · San Luis

The history of San Luis

Below: maps from 1961 on.

0on the National Register
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What stands out about San Luis’ 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 San Luis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start San Luis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Luis’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

San Luis, in brief

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

San Luis is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, San Luis had a population of 32. New Mexico State Road 279 passes through the community.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 59 to 32 (-46%).

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

Timeline

San Luis, 1916 to 1961

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1916Post officeThe Dominguez post office opens
  3. 1932Post officeThe Dominguez post office closes
  4. 1961On 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.

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On the map

San Luis on the map, 1961 to 1989

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

San Luis on the 1961 USGS mapSan Luis on the 1989 USGS map1961San Luis 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 San Luis.

Famous people

Famous people close to San Luis

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

See all →
Alan BranchAmerican football player · b. 1984
Casey LunaAmerican politician · b. 1931
I
Imani MorlockPuerto Rican footballer · b. 1997
Velino HerreraAmerican artist · b. 1902
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Another post office, Dominguez, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Arroyo Minesmine

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

Questions about San Luis’ history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.