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History · Truchas

Truchas’ post office opened in 1894, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Truchas’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Truchas began

When was Truchas founded?

1894

The Truchas post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 467132 years
Founding year: the first Truchas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Truchas’ past

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

Old housesHalf of Truchas’ homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · The story

How Truchas came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Truchas.

Read it all →

In the mid-18th century the population of the Spanish colony of New Mexico, consisting of seven to eight thousand Hispanos and fewer than 10,000 Puebloans (Indians) scattered along the Rio Grande valley, was besieged by Native Americans (Indians) on all sides. New Mexico was in "a state of miserable panic." To protect the colony, the governor of New Mexico authorized the establishment of settlements on its frontiers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Truchas, 1894 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Truchas post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1943In the archiveTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1966Post officeThe Truchas post office closes
By decade

Truchas, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New MexicoTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New MexicoTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New MexicoTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New MexicoTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New MexicoTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico1943Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Truchas on the map, 1953 to 1995

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

Truchas on the 1953 USGS mapTruchas on the 1977 USGS mapTruchas on the 1995 USGS map1953Truchas 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 Truchas.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Truchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Retake this viewTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1943

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Truchas’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Truchas

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

See all →
Scott TiptonAmerican politician · b. 1956
A
Al HurricaneAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1936
Patricia D. LopezAmerican computer scientist · b. 1950
J
Jacobo de la SernaAmerican ceramic artist, Spanish Colonial schol… · b. 1965
Satya Rhodes-ConwayAmerican politician · b. 1971
B
Ben LujánAmerican politician · b. 1935
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Truchas had its own post office from 1894 to 1966.

Truchas
1894–1966
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Truchas Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Truchas
Truchas Pueblo

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

Help out

Finish Truchas’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTruchas, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cordova1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Truchas’ history

What year was Truchas founded?

The Truchas post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 the Library of Congress (6), 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.