Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #41 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Most of Vado was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Elementary School. Below: maps from 1943 on.
Vado dates its founding to 1886 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1886.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vado is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #41 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Vado’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (65% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vado’s history is told.
Vado had its own post office from 1911 to 1967. Three other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Vado.
Founded in 1920 by Francis “Frank” Marion Boyer and his wife Ella Louise, after the previous freedom colony they founded, Blackdom, New Mexico, became a ghost town due to water well issues.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltDunbar, Paul Laurence, Elementary School is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vado. 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 Vado.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
In 1886, according to Wikidata. Vado’s post office opened in 1886.
Vado is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #41 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.
One place: the Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Elementary School (listed 2017).
0.0% of Vado’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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