Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #3 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
15 places in town are on the National Register, among them 3 National Historic Landmarks and four historic districts with 113 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1940.
Taos dates its founding to 1615 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1940.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Taos is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #3 of 73 in New Mexico. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Taos’ 198 sits above most of its state (94% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 128 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltSeverino Martinez House is built
BuiltErnest L. Blumenschein House is built
Born hereChief Ouray is born here
Born hereBenigno C. Hernández is born here
In the archiveDick Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, José Maria Valdez 1865 - cropped
In the archiveSouth Town at
In the archiveTaos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17668
In the archiveTaos in the Snow
BuiltHarwood Foundation is built
BuiltLeon Gaspard House is built
Born hereDavid Hykes is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 3 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Taos.
The Taos Pueblo, which borders the north boundary of the town of Taos, has been occupied for nearly a millennium. It is estimated that the pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 AD, with some later expansion. The pueblo is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1865Dick Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, José Maria Valdez 1865…
1865Dick Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, José Maria Valdez 1865c. 1871South Town at
c. 1871South Town at1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17668
1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17702
1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17745
1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17926
1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17971
1906Taos Pueblo, New Mexico LOC agc.7a17982Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Taos. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Taos.
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 sheet.
1908Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Taos’ page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 965 people in 1940 to 6,474 in 2020, 6 times over.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Taos’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Taos’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Fernandez De Taos, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1615, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Taos’ post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1940 counted 965 people here.
Taos is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #3 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.
15 listings, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks: 11 buildings, among them the Ernest L. Blumenschein House (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), and 4 historic districts with 113 contributing buildings. 128 historic buildings in all.
12% of Taos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1980.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (15), 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.
1914
