The first route to carry mail through Dona Ana County was the Mission Supply Service using the Camino Real. One settlement that is shown on the early maps was called San Diego. Located about ten miles south of Hatch, it was an important crossing point on the Rio Grande.
The Spanish had settlements in both Las Cruces and Dona Ana and became stops on the Mission Supply Service route. With the exception of changes in the southern terminus of the route, it remained in place until New Mexico was captured in 1846. There were no established mail routes between 1846 and 1851. In September of 1851 Henry Skillman received a contract to deliver mail on stage coaches between San Antonio, Texas, and Santa Fe via El Paso and Las Cruces.
In 1857 a contract was awarded to provide semi-monthly mail serve between San Diego, California, and San Antonio, Texas. Fort Fillmore and Mesilla (established in 1858) benefited from this new service by being stops on the stage route. Another route, known as the Butterfield overland Mail Route, was established between St. Louis and San Francisco. Both routes used the same road through New Mexico.
The Civil War brought a stop to all routes in southern New Mexico. Fort Fillmore was captured by the Confederate Army in July of 1861 and all of the southern part of the state was under Confederate control. This changed when the Confederates were forced out of New Mexico in April of 1862. By October, Tucson was under Union control and Southern Mail Route was once again ready for the stages. Since the war was not over, the route came from the north through Albuquerque to Mesilla and then West.
The railroads entered Dona Ana County in 1881 with the completion of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (AT&SF RR) to Rincon. Here the rails split with tracks going west and south. Railway Post Office (RPO) service immediately started on both lines. The Southern Pacific Railroad completed their line from Deming to El Paso on May 28, 1881. This was one month ahead of the AT&SF RR. With the exception of short routes to post offices on the opposite side of the Rio Grande from the railroad and the one route from Las Cruces to Fort Stanton, all mail carrying contracts in Dona Ana ended with the arrival of the railroads.
Dona Ana County is unique in one respect. It is the only county that had a major railroad with RPO service, the El Paso and Southeastern, that traveled through the county and never served a post office. A star route was soon established out of the Rincon Post Office to serve the offices opened in the northwestern corner of the county. By 1938, the RPO transportation had been supplemented by two Star Routes that brought mail to post offices in Dona Ana County. One was a route from Socorro to El Paso and the other was a route between Rincon and Derry that connected to a route from Hot Springs (TorC) . Another route was established out of the Las Cruces Post Of f ice to deliver mail to the offices between Las Cruces and Canutillo, Texas.
Air Mail was brought into Dona Ana County with two routes by 1950. Air Mail Route 29 from Albuquerque and Air Mail Route 64 from El Paso both landed at the Las Cruces Airport. The RPO service on the AT&SF RR to the west of Rincon was discontinued on June 30, 1953. A Star Route was established between Rincon and Silver City to replace the RPO. The 1957 Postal Route Map shows a new Star Route from Albuquerque to El Paso. This route made stops at Hatch, Las Cruces, Mesilla Park and Anthony to supplement the RPO service that still existed between Albuquerque and El Paso. Although some mail still traveled by air, the Air Mail Routes to Las Cruces were discontinued.
The Post Office Department introduced the ZIP Code program in 1963. The Truth or Consequences (TorC) and Las Cruces Post offices became Sectional Center Facilities (SCF) responsible for the processing and transportation of mail for the offices in their respective ZIP Code areas. Since the Albuquerque was the hub of transportation coming into the state, it became the State Distribution Center for processing the mail to the SCFS.
Transportation was established out of the TorC Post Office to serve the Rincon, Hatch, Salem, and Garfield Post Offices that received 879 ZIP Codes. The remainder of the offices in Dona Ana County received 880 ZIP Codes and received their mail from the Las Cruces SCF. The RPO service between Albuquerque and El Paso ended August 14, 1965. All of the offices in the county now received their mail by previously established motorized Star Routes. With only a few changes in frequency and arrival times, the transportation of mail in Dona Ana County had remained the same.