San Elizario’s post office opened in 1851, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #177 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of San Elizario was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 22 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first San Elizario post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2013.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives San Elizario’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, San Elizario is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #177 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of San Elizario’s overall grade.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so San Elizario’s 22.7 sits above most of its state (91% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 23 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2013.
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 San Elizario’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
San Elizario’s post office has been open since 1851.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alvarez ColoniaBrinkman Addition ColoniaCamino Barrial ColoniaColonia de las DaliasColonia de las Dalias Number 2Colonia del Rio Number 1Colonia del Rio Number 2Colonia del Rio Number 3Cuna del Valle ColoniaFrank-Anita Estates ColoniaGloria Elena ColoniaGlorieta Addition ColoniaGonzalez ColoniaLas Aves ColoniaLas Pampas Number 1 ColoniaLas Pampas Number 2 ColoniaLas Pampas Number 3 ColoniaLas Pampas Number 4 ColoniaMadrilena ColoniaPlaza Bernal ColoniaSierra Meadows ColoniaSylvia Andrea ColoniaValle Villa Addition ColoniaValle Villa Addition Number 2 Colonia
1cemetery inside San Elizario
San Elizario
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start San Elizario’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Elizario’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1598, Juan de Oñate, a Spanish nobleman and conquistador born in Zacatecas, Mexico, led a group of 539 colonists and 7,000 head of livestock (including horses, oxen, and cattle) from southern Chihuahua to settle the province of New Mexico. The caravan traveled a northeasterly route for weeks across the desert until it reached the banks of the Rio Grande in the San Elizario area. A mass was held, a blessing of the standard and a celebration. Oñate performed the ceremony of La Toma ("Taking Possession"), in which he claimed the new province for King Philip II of Spain. This is considered to be the "Birth of the American Southwest".
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.
The San Elizario post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2013.
How does San Elizario rank for history?
San Elizario is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #177 of 642 in Texas. 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 San Elizario?
Three places: the Presidio Chapel of San Elizario (listed 1972), the San Elizario Historic District (1997) and the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 (1997).
How old are the homes in San Elizario?
0.7% of San Elizario’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.
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