New Mexico Genealogy Facts
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, a Spanish explorer searching for gold, traveled the region that became New Mexico in 1540–1542. In 1598 the first Spanish settlement was established on the Rio Grande River by Juan de Onate; in 1610 Santa Fe was founded and made the capital of New Mexico. The U.S. acquired most of New Mexico in 1848, as a result of the Mexican War, and the remainder in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
- New Mexico was organized as territory on September 9, 1850
- New Mexico entered the union as the 47th state on Jan. 6, 1912 .
- New Mexico has 33 Counties
- New Mexico’s capital is Santa Fe and the official state website is www.newmexico.gov/.
- New Mexico is bordered by Arizona (west), Colorado (north), Oklahoma (northeast), Texas (east), Utah (northwest).
- New Mexico has a land area of 121,593 square miles making it the 5th largest state.
- New Mexico’s 2010 population was 2,059,179 .
- New Mexico largest cities (2010) are Albuquerque, 545,852; Las Cruces, 97,618; Santa Fe (Capital), 70,631; Rio Rancho, 67,947; Roswell , 48,366; Farmington, 45,877; Clovis, 37,775; Hobbs, 34,122; Alamogordo, 30,403; Carlsbad, 26,138.
- New Mexico was named by the Spanish, in reference to Mexico.
- New Mexico’s nickname is “Land of Enchantment” .
- New Mexico State Motto is ” Crescit eundo ” which means It grows as it goes.
New Mexico County Genealogy
The county clerk’s office in the county seat will have land records, including deeds, mining records, surveys, and plats; marriage records; and some probate records. Military discharges, liens, mortgages, powers of attorney, and miscellaneous affidavits may also be found there. Probate records may be found in the district clerk’s office. Counties may have offices in towns other than the county seat, but these retain no permanent custody of records.
Select a County Below
COUNTY PAGES UNDER CONSTRUCTION
New Mexico has counties that no longer exist. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. Most of these counties were created and disbanded in the 19th century; county boundaries have changed little since 1900 in the vast majority of states. These counties need to be looked at when doing genealogy research. Pay close attention where the courthouse records went to if the county was abolished or combined with another county.
- Santa Ana County [1852 Map]was one of the seven original partidos created in New Mexico under Mexican rule (was in Judicial District No. 1 from 1847 to 1863, then in JD 2 until 1876). Under U.S. rule, it became a U.S. Territorial county from 1852 until 1876, when it was absorbed by Bernalillo County.
New Mexico Genealogy Links
See New Mexico County Genealogy for County Links. These genealogy links fall into 3 categories: Commercial Sites, Personal Sites or Organization Sites. Some are have free access some require a payment. This is just a list that has been collected or submitted. I do not endorse or promote one genealogy site above another. Feel free to submit your own favorite genealogy or family history related sites.
- New Mexico General Website Links
- Family History Library (familysearch.org) – The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
- New Mexico Historical Records (ancestry.com) – Databases include Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Voter Lists & Census Records; Immigration & Emigration Records; Obituary Records; Military Records; Family Tree Records; Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Directories & Member Lists.
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data (familylink.com) – For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons.
- New Mexico Genealogy Network (facebook.com)
- USGenweb – New Mexico Genealogy (nmgenweb.us)
- The New Mexico Family Group Sheet Project (fgs-project.com)
- Free GenForum Message Boards – New Mexico (genforum.genealogy.com)
- Free Rootsweb Message Boards – New Mexico (boards.ancestry.com)
- Cyndis List New Mexico Links (cyndislist.com)
- New Mexico Mailing List (rootsweb.ancestry.com)
- New Mexico American History and Genealogy Project (usgennet.org)
- New Mexico (wikipedia.org)
- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) – New Mexico (raogk.org)
- New Mexico Genealogy Look Ups (geneasearch.com)
- USGenWeb Archives Project for New Mexico (usgwarchives.org)
- Background Sources for New Mexico (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
- New Mexico Migrations Project (rootsweb.ancestry.com)
- New Mexico History Links Website Links
- History of New Mexico Genealogy (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
- New Mexico US Genweb County Site Links
New Mexico State History
New Mexico, constituent state of the United States of America. It became the 47th state of the union in 1912. New Mexico is the fifth largest U.S. state and is bounded by Colorado to the north, Oklahoma and Texas to the east, Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south, and Arizona (which was part of the Territory of New Mexico from 1850 to 1863) to the west. At its northwestern corner New Mexico joins Arizona, Utah, and Colorado in the only four-way meeting of states in the United States. The capital of New Mexico is Santa Fe.
The area that is New Mexico was claimed by Spain in the 16th century, became part of Mexico in 1821, and was ceded to the United States in 1848 (through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo). Tensions between New Mexico’s Spanish American (Hispano), Native American, and Anglo populations are a continuing reminder of the bitter antagonisms that characterized the state’s long history; these tensions drive such novels as N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn (1968), Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima (1972), Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony (1974), and John Nichols’s The Milagro Beanfield War (1974), all of which are part of the modern New Mexican literary canon. As part of the American Southwest, New Mexico shares the “Old West” legacy of cattle drives, cowboys, and clashes between pioneers and Native Americans. Indeed, from the vastness of its slice of the Great Plains to the rough, weather-scored peaks of its mountain ranges, New Mexico retains much of its frontier flavour.
