The University Park post office opened in 1959, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Agricultural College (1905) and State College (1912), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 3,00767 years
How historic is University Park?
C−
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first University Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives University Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, University Park is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #43 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of University Park’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 University Park’s 14.4 sits above most of its state (77% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about University Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of University Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Las Cruces sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of University Park.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
University Park had its own post office from 1959 to 1966. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Agricultural College
1905–1912
State College
1912–1959
University Park
1959–1966
19001960today
Gone or out of use
University Park Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
University Park, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of University Park yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
University Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, University Park had a population of 3,007. It is part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area. The CDP is almost all of the area bounded by University Avenue, Interstate 10 and Interstate 25 and is thus very nearly coextensive with the Las Cruces campus of New Mexico State University.
Its first post office opened in 1959. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,192 to 3,007 (-28%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
University Park, 1891 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The University Park post office opened in 1959, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does University Park rank for history?
University Park is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #43 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 University Park?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Goddard Hall (listed 1988, the first).
How old are the homes in University Park?
0.0% of University Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
