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–Not graded
History · Vaughn

Vaughn’s post office opened in 1907, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
24old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Vaughn’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Vaughn began

When was Vaughn founded?

1907

The Vaughn post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 888 in 19202020 census: 286119 years
Founding year: the first Vaughn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vaughn’s past

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

A town in old photos24 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,356 in 1950; 286 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Vaughn’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · By decade

Vaughn, decade by decade

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

1940s24 items
ATSF No. 50061943ATSF No. 5006Atsf2-10-41943Atsf2-10-4The Santa Fe R.R. crosses the Southern Pacific R.R. at Vaughn1a34744v1943The Santa Fe R.R. crosses the Southern Pacific R.R. a…Vaughn, New Mexico. Pulling out of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard between Vaughn and Belen, New Mexico1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Pulling out of the Atchison, Tope…Vaughn, New Mexico. Train inspector at work in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard, between Clovis and Vaug…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Train inspector at work in the At…Vaughn, New Mexico. Passing through the town on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard between Vaughn and Bele…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Passing through the town on the A…Vaughn, New Mexico. Passing the Southern Pacific Railroad station along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad betw…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Passing the Southern Pacific Rail…Vaughn, New Mexico. A passing Southern Pacific Railroad freight train1943Vaughn, New Mexico. A passing Southern Pacific Railro…Vaughn, New Mexico. A passing Southern Pacific Railroad freight train1943Vaughn, New Mexico. A passing Southern Pacific Railro…Vaughn, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Vaughn and Belen, New Mexico passing …1943Vaughn, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka a…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexico. Train inspector at work in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe R…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexi…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexico. Train inspector at work in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe R…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexi…Vaughn, New Mexico. Eastbound locomotive on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad ready to leave for Clovis, New M…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Eastbound locomotive on the Atchi…Vaughn, New Mexico. Conductor Ennis O'Niell of Clovis, New Mexico, who was about to leave on the return trip1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Conductor Ennis O'Niell of Clovis…Vaughn, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad passing a Southern Pacific Railroad freight t…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka a…Vaughn, New Mexico. General view of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yards1943Vaughn, New Mexico. General view of the Atchison, Top…Vaughn, New Mexico. Head brakeman Thomas H. Knight of Clovis, New Mexico about to leave Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe R…1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Head brakeman Thomas H. Knight of…Vaughn, New Mexico. Oil storage tanks at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Oil storage tanks at the Atchison…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexico. A passing Southern Pacific Railroad freight train1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexi…Vaughn, New Mexico. One of the 5000 Class Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad freight locomotives about to leave on …1943Vaughn, New Mexico. One of the 5000 Class Atchison, T…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexico. A train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad passing …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Vaughn, New Mexi…Vaughn, New Mexico. Railroad men playing dominoes in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard reading room1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Railroad men playing dominoes in …Vaughn, New Mexico. Easternbound train about to leave the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard on the return trip1943Vaughn, New Mexico. Easternbound train about to leave…Vaughn, New Mexico. A caboose on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard converted from an old box car1943Vaughn, New Mexico. A caboose on the Atchison, Topeka…
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
People over time

Vaughn, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,356

Peaked at 1,356 in 1950; 286 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Vaughn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vaughn.

Read it all →

Vaughn is named after Major George W. Vaughn, a civil engineer who was employed by the Santa Fe railroad. Vaughn was established in the early 20th century as a Southern Pacific Railroad town. The town's importance grew when a second railroad, the Eastern Railway of New Mexico (an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line from Belen to Clovis), was completed in 1907 with Vaughn as a division point. A large two-story depot, a roundhouse, and a Harvey House hotel were constructed shortly thereafter. Vaughn was incorporated in 1919 and in 1920 had a population of 888, according to the U.S. census.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vaughn, 1907 to 1978

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Vaughn post office opens
  3. 1943In the archiveATSF No. 5006
  4. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,356
  5. 1978On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Vaughn on the map, 1978 to 1984

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

Vaughn on the 1978 USGS mapVaughn on the 1984 USGS map1978Vaughn 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 Vaughn.

Every building

Vaughn, building by building, 1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Vaughn fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

ATSF No. 5006
Retake this viewATSF No. 5006, 1943

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Vaughn’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 viewATSF No. 5006: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Vaughn’s history

What year was Vaughn founded?

The Vaughn post office opened in 1907, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (21), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.