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D−History
History · Santa Teresa

Half of Santa Teresa’s homes were built after 1991

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #62 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it

Most of Santa Teresa was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1955 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Santa Teresa’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Santa Teresa’s history

How historic is Santa Teresa?

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More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Santa Teresa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Santa Teresa is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #62 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Santa Teresa’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.8) · typical NM town 2.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NM town 2.2 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 4%
NewerOlder
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 15%

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 Teresa’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Teresa’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Santa Teresa’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPilatus P-2 HB-RBP, Santa Teresa, NM, O…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Santa Teresa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Santa Teresa.

Read it all →

In 2015, the community of Santa Teresa petitioned the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners to incorporate it as a city. When Sunland Park proposed annexing Santa Teresa, every Board member agreed that Sunland Park had no jurisdiction over Santa Teresa, whereupon Sunland Park filed an appeal to that decision with the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Santa Teresa, 1894 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Strauss post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1943Post officeThe Strauss post office closes
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1997In the archivePilatus P-2 HB-RBP, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct97
By decade

Santa Teresa, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s4 items
Pilatus P-2 HB-RBP, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct971997Pilatus P-2 HB-RBP, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct97Pilatus P-2 HB-RCD, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct971997Pilatus P-2 HB-RCD, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct97Swiss Me-109 replica, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct971997Swiss Me-109 replica, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct97Swiss Me-109 replica, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct971997Swiss Me-109 replica, Santa Teresa, NM, Oct97
Today26 recent
Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectSanta Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectSanta Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectSanta Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectSanta Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectSanta Teresa Border Wall Replacement Project2018Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement ProjectExisting Barrier near2018Existing Barrier nearExisting Barrier near2018Existing Barrier nearExisting Barrier near2018Existing Barrier nearExisting Barrier near2018Existing Barrier nearExisting Barrier near2018Existing Barrier nearConstruction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project2018Construction Staging Area for the Santa Teresa Border…Precision maneuver2014Precision maneuverSanta Teresa, NM2013Santa Teresa, NMSanta Teresa Border Crossing 20112011Santa Teresa Border Crossing 2011Santa Teresa NM border station2007Santa Teresa NM border stationJeronimo, Chihuahua Border Station2002Jeronimo, Chihuahua Border Station
On the map

Santa Teresa on the map, 1955 to 1994

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

Santa Teresa on the 1955 USGS mapSanta Teresa on the 1994 USGS map1955Strauss 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 Teresa.

Famous people

Famous people close to Santa Teresa

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

See all →
Debbie ReynoldsAmerican actress, singer, and dancer · b. 1932
G
Gene RoddenberryAmerican television screenwriter and producer · b. 1921
S
Sandra Day O'ConnorAmerican lawyer and jurist · b. 1930
A
Alan TudykAmerican actor · b. 1971
Anwar al-AwlakiAmerican-Yemeni imam and suspected Islamist ext… · b. 1971
M
Marcell JacobsItalian athlete · b. 1994
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Strauss
Gone or out of use
Strauss Post Officepost office

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sunland Park2 historic placesD

Questions about Santa Teresa’s history

How does Santa Teresa rank for history?

Santa Teresa is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #62 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.

How old are the homes in Santa Teresa?

0.0% of Santa Teresa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1991.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (30), Wikipedia, 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.