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History · Valencia

Half of Valencia’s homes were built after 1994

Most of Valencia was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Valencia’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Valencia’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valencia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valencia’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewDon Simon Aragon House: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Valencia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Valencia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Valencia is an unincorporated community in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau first defined the community as a census-designated place (CDP) prior to the 2020 census. The community is in eastern Santa Fe County, at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and is bordered to the east by Glorieta. Interstate 25 passes through Valencia, with access from Exit 297. I-25 leads northwest (southbound) 17 miles (27 km) to Santa Fe and east (northbound) 49 miles (79 km) to Las Vegas, New Mexico. The highway crosses Glorieta Pass at the eastern border of the CDP.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Valencia, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Don Simon Aragon HouseDate?Don Simon Aragon HouseHouses (near Mission), Mesita, Cibola County, NMDate?Houses (near Mission), Mesita, Cibola County, NM
On the map

Valencia on the map, 1953 to 2002

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

Valencia on the 1953 USGS mapValencia on the 1977 USGS mapValencia on the 2002 USGS map1953Glorieta 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 Valencia.

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.

Don Simon Aragon House
Retake this viewDon Simon Aragon House

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Valencia

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

See all →
A
Adrian GrenierAmerican actor, director, producer, musician · b. 1976
Ben Ray LujánU.S. Senator from New Mexico · b. 1972
Lori NelsonAmerican actress and model · b. 1933
L
Lucky VarelaAmerican politician · b. 1935
C
Concha Ortiz y PinoAmerican politician · b. 1910
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Paytianomine

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Glorieta1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Valencia’s history

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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.