3 of South Valley’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #17 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Old Armijo School, the James Lawrence and Juliana Gutierrez y Chavez Hubbell House and the Five Points Community Church. Most of South Valley was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 2000.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Valley is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #17 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of South Valley’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 South Valley’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (59% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±2.0 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 South Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Armijo Post Officepost officeAtrisco Post Officepost officeDuke City RacewaylocaleLourdes High SchoolschoolPadillas Post Officepost officePajarito Post Officepost officePerson Plantmine
1cemetery inside South Valley
Santa Clara
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start South Valley’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Valley’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of South Valley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
South Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 38,338 at the 2020 Census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Postal Service uses "Albuquerque" for all South Valley addresses (ZIP code 87105).
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 40,976 to 38,338 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
South Valley, 1820 to 1936
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
South Valley is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #17 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 South Valley?
Three places: the Old Armijo School (listed 1982), the James Lawrence and Juliana Gutierrez y Chavez Hubbell House (2015) and the Five Points Community Church (2024).
How old are the homes in South Valley?
9% of South Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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