Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #35 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Most of Zuni Pueblo was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1950.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Zuni Pueblo is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #35 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 Zuni Pueblo’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Zuni Pueblo.
The first contact with Spaniards occurred in 1539 in the ancient village of Hawikku when Esteban, an Arab/Berber of Moroccan origin, entered Zuni territory seeking the fabled "Seven Cities of Cibola" and when Marco da Nizza, an Italian franciscan, reached Zuni Pueblo and called it Cibola.
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.
In the archiveIndian Pueblo, Zuni, N. M. : Geographical & geological Explorations & surveys West of the…
In the archivePueblo - the original American tenement - Zuni Pueblo - Cobb
In the archiveA trip to Zuñi. No. 2. Dancing the "ka-k'ok-shi," or, Good dance on the old plaza. June 1…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zuni Pueblo. 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 Zuni Pueblo.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Zuni Pueblo’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 2,563 and 6,367 people in every census since 1950.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Zuni Pueblo’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Zuni Pueblo is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #35 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 Halona Pueblo (listed 1975).
3% of Zuni Pueblo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1873
1875
1898