Santa Fe
Santa Fe, one of the oldest cities in the country, appears on many cards showing the plaza, the Palace of the Governors, San Miguel Chapel, the cathedral and narrow streets. In the 1910s and 1920s, the city promoted a revival of adobe architecture, and later cards show the new Pueblo Revival buildings. Early real photos of the plaza and streets are more interesting than later printed views.
The pueblos
The pueblos along the Rio Grande and to the west, including Taos, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, Acoma, Zuni and Laguna, were photographed throughout the postcard era. Cards with identified people, places and photographers are historically important. Some printed cards of the time reflect how Native peoples were presented to tourists, and collectors study them as records of that history.
Taos and the artists
The Taos Society of Artists, founded in 1915, drew painters to Taos, and the town and its pueblo appear on cards. Early views of Taos, its plaza and the artists' studios interest art and regional collectors.
Railroads and Harvey Houses
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway crossed New Mexico, and the Fred Harvey Company ran hotels and restaurants along it, including La Castañeda in Las Vegas, the Alvarado in Albuquerque and El Navajo in Gallup. The Harvey Company's Indian Detours took travelers to pueblos and sights by car. Postcards of Harvey hotels, depots and detours are popular with railroad and Southwest collectors.
Mining camps
Silver, gold, copper and coal mining created camps across the state: Silver City, Mogollon, Kingston, Elizabethtown, Madrid, Gallup's coal mines and the copper pit at Santa Rita. Real photos of mines, miners and camps are collected.
Route 66
Route 66 crossed New Mexico through Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Albuquerque, Grants and Gallup, with motor courts, cafes, gas stations and trading posts. Named roadside businesses are collected. See Route 66 and roadside postcards.
Places and subjects to look for
- Santa Fe: the plaza, the Palace of the Governors and streets.
- Taos: the pueblo, the plaza and artists.
- Albuquerque: the old town, the Alvarado and Route 66.
- Las Vegas: the plaza, La Castañeda and the railroad.
- Mining camps: Silver City, Mogollon, Madrid and Santa Rita.
- Gallup: coal mines, trading posts and the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial.
- Ranch country: the eastern plains and the southern valleys.
Ranches and the border
Cattle and sheep ranching spread across New Mexico, and real photos of ranches, roundups and cowboys are popular. Columbus, raided by Pancho Villa's forces in 1916, and the border towns appear on cards, including military views from the Punitive Expedition that followed.
Real photos versus printed views
Santa Fe landmarks, pueblos and later Route 66 chromes were printed in quantity. Real photos of mining camps, small towns, ranches and identified people carry most of the value in a New Mexico collection.
What is common
Printed Santa Fe landmark views, later chrome tourist cards and generic Southwest scenery are plentiful.
Why early New Mexico cards are scarce
New Mexico became a state only in 1912 and had about 330,000 people in 1910. Many of its mining camps and small towns were photographed only a few times, and some camps are now ghost towns. Real photos of those places can be among the only images that survive, which is why collectors of Western and Southwestern history seek them.
Health seekers and sanatoriums
New Mexico's dry climate drew people with tuberculosis, and sanatoriums operated in Albuquerque, Silver City, Las Vegas and elsewhere. Postcards of sanatoriums, tent cottages and health-seekers are a distinctive New Mexico subject collected by medical history enthusiasts.
Questions about New Mexico postcards
Are early Santa Fe postcards valuable? Common printed views are modest; early real photos of the plaza and streets are more collectible.
Are Harvey House postcards collectible? Yes, especially hotels, depots and Indian Detours.
Are New Mexico mining camp postcards worth anything? Real photos of camps and mines are collected.
Do you buy collections with New Mexico cards? Yes, complete collections, by mail.