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History · Taos Ski Valley

Taos Ski Valley dates to 1996

Most of Taos Ski Valley was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 2000.

1996founded
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Taos Ski Valley began

When was Taos Ski Valley founded?

1996

Taos Ski Valley dates its founding to 1996 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 56 in 20002020 census: 7730 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1893.The full story ↓

What stands out about Taos Ski Valley’s 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 Taos Ski Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Taos Ski Valley, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Taos Ski Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Taos Ski Valley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Amizett
1893–1902
Twining
1902–1910
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Twining
Gone or out of use
Amizette ProspectsmineFrazer MinemineHighline Group MinemineLake Fork ProspectmineRio Hondo Placer GroupmineTwining Post Officepost office

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

The story

How Taos Ski Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Taos Ski Valley.

Read it all →

In the 1800s, present-day Taos Ski Valley was the site of a small copper mining town called Twining, New Mexico, which was later abandoned. In 1955, Ernie and Rhoda Blake founded the area as a ski mountain.

The first ski lift, a J-bar, was installed in 1956. Until 1957, the ski resort featured only one ski slope, Snakedance. In 1957, the resort installed a second lift—a Poma (platter) lift.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Taos Ski Valley, 1893 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Amizett post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Amizett post office closes
  5. 1902Post officeThe Twining post office opens
  6. 1910Post officeThe Twining post office closes
  7. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1996
    FoundingTaos Ski Valley is established
By decade

Taos Ski Valley, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Don France of The Rocky Mountain Elk & Deer Watch on YouTube, Angel Fire, NM, USA2024Don France of The Rocky Mountain Elk & Deer Watch on …Taos Ski Valley2012Taos Ski Valley
On the map

Taos Ski Valley on the map, 1963 to 1995

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

Taos Ski Valley on the 1963 USGS mapTaos Ski Valley on the 1995 USGS map1963Wheeler Peak 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 Taos Ski Valley.

People over time

Taos Ski Valley, census by census

020002020Peak: 77

Between 56 and 77 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Taos Ski Valley’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Taos Ski Valley

Nobody well known was born in Taos Ski Valley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
C
Chiara AureliaAmerican actress · b. 2002
David HykesAmerican music therapist · b. 1953
Chief OurayUte chief · b. 1833
Agnes Morley CleavelandAmerican writer · b. 1874
Benigno C. HernándezAmerican politician · b. 1862
R
Ruthanna HopperAmerican writer · b. 1972

Questions about Taos Ski Valley’s history

What year was Taos Ski Valley founded?

In 1996, according to Wikidata. Taos Ski Valley’s post office opened in 1893, and the census of 2000 counted 56 people here.

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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.