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History · Tijeras

Tijeras’ post office opened in 1888, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Tijeras was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1980.

1888first post office
2on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Tijeras began

When was Tijeras founded?

1888

The Tijeras post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Zamora (1938), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 311 in 19802020 census: 465138 years
Founding year: the first Tijeras post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tijeras’ 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 Tijeras are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Tijeras, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tijeras’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tijeras’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 burying grounds

Tijeras had its own post office from 1888 to 1925. Another post office, Zamora, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tijeras
1888–1925
Zamora
1938–1947
Tijeras
1947–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Canyon EstatesPrimera AguaZamora
1cemetery inside Tijeras
Tijeras

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

The story

How Tijeras came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tijeras.

Read it all →

Tijeras was part of the Carnuel land grant, created in 1763 to defend Albuquerque from the raids of Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache American Indians. The village is located in Tijeras Canyon, a strategic and natural corridor between the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains and the Spanish settlements in the Rio Grande valley. Nineteen men some with families, comprised the first settlers at Carnuel. They were mostly from the lower castas of Spanish society, "coyotes" and genizaros (Indians who lived among the Spanish and had adopted some elements of Hispanic culture). For the coyotes and genizaros the attraction to settle in the Tijeras area was the opportunity to own land through the land grant from the New Mexican government.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tijeras, 1888 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Tijeras post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1925Post officeThe Tijeras post office closes
  5. 1938Post officeThe Zamora post office opens
  6. 1947Post officeThe Zamora post office closes
  7. 1947Post officeThe Tijeras post office opens
  8. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Tijeras, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Sandia Mountains2021Sandia MountainsSign beside Tijeras Musical Road2016Sign beside Tijeras Musical RoadSign beside Tijeras Musical Road 22016Sign beside Tijeras Musical Road 2East Mountain Library2010East Mountain LibraryCement Plant2010Cement PlantEast Mountain Library2008East Mountain LibraryProbably Atlides halesus Great Purple Hairstreak New Mexico PP2007Probably Atlides halesus Great Purple Hairstreak New …NMMap-doton-Tijeras2004NMMap-doton-Tijeras
On the map

Tijeras on the map, 1954 to 2006

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

Tijeras on the 1954 USGS mapTijeras on the 1961 USGS mapTijeras on the 1972 USGS mapTijeras on the 1990 USGS mapTijeras on the 2006 USGS map1954Tijeras 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 Tijeras.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Holy Child Church
Holy Child ChurchWhitcomb Springs
BuildingsDistricts
Holy Child ChurchBuilding
All 2 listings
Whitcomb SpringsDistrict · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Tijeras, census by census

0100200300400500600198020002020Peak: 541

Between 311 and 541 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tijeras’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tijeras

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

See all →
Demi LovatoAmerican singer-songwriter and actress · b. 1992
J
Jeff BezosAmerican business magnate · b. 1964
N
Neil Patrick HarrisAmerican actor · b. 1973
William NordhausAmerican economist · b. 1941
Jace NormanAmerican actor · b. 2000
Annabeth GishAmerican actress · b. 1971
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cedar CrestIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Tijeras’ history

What year was Tijeras founded?

The Tijeras post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Tijeras?

Two places: the Holy Child Church (listed 1978) and the Whitcomb Springs (2019).

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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (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.