The Santa Rosa post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Eden (1885), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,093 in 19202020 census: 2,850153 years
How historic is Santa Rosa?
B
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Santa Rosa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Santa Rosa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Santa Rosa is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #15 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Santa Rosa’s overall grade.
New Mexico towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical New Mexico town has 2.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Santa Rosa’s 28.4 sits above most of its state (80% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Santa Rosa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first Euro-American settlement in the area was Agua Negra Chiquita, "Little Black Water" in Spanish, in 1865. The name was changed in 1890 to Santa Rosa (Spanish for "Saint Rose"), referring to a chapel that Don Celso Baca (the founder of the city) built and named after both his mother Rosa and Saint Rose of Lima. The "Rosa" may also refer to the roses in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and is indicative of the Catholicism of the Spanish colonizers who settled in the area.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Santa Rosa. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1963Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa.
Every building
Santa Rosa, building by building, 1908–1921
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Santa Rosa’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Eden, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Santa Rosa
1873–today
Eden
1885–1899
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Santa Rosa
EvergreenSaint Rose of Lima
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Santa Rosa’s history
What year was Santa Rosa founded?
The Santa Rosa post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Santa Rosa rank for history?
Santa Rosa is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #15 of 73 in New Mexico. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Santa Rosa?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Jesus M. Casaus House (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the Park Lake Historic District, with 1 contributing buildings. 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Santa Rosa?
13% of Santa Rosa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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