History and Facts of New Mexico Counties

New Mexico Counties – New Mexico was organized as territory on September 9, 1850 and was admitted the union as the 47th state on Jan. 6, 1912. New Mexico has 33 Counties.

States bordering New Mexico are Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

In 1852 the first New Mexico counties were formed. The last county to be formed was Cibola County in 1981.

There were originally nine counties formed in 1852. Santa Ana County, New Mexico Territory, one of the nine original counties, was annexed in 1876 to Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

List of New Mexico Counties

New Mexico is divided into 33 counties.

County	Created	Created From	Named For	County Seat
Bernalillo County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	In honor of Gonzales-Bernal family; Spanish nobles who settled the territory in the seventeenth century	Albuquerque
Bergen County	25 Feb 1921	Socorro County	In honor of Thomas Benton Catron; a Santa Fe attorney and New Mexico's first U.S. Senator	Reserve
Burlington County	25 Feb 1889	Lincoln County	In honor of Jose Francisco Chaves (1833-1904); a U.S. Army colonel in New Mexico during and after the American Civil War, politician, lawyer, and rancher from the New Mexico Territory	Roswell
Cibola County	19 Jun 1981	Valencia County	The mythical Seven Cities of Cibola	Grants
Colfax County	25 Jan 1869	Mora County	In honor of Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), the seventeenth vice president of the United States	Raton
Curry County	25 Feb 1909	Quay and Roosevelt Counties	In honor of George Curry, a governor of New Mexico Territory (1907-1910)	Clovis
De Baca County	28 Feb 1917	Chaves and Guadalupe Counties	In honor Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca (1864-1917), the second state governor of New Mexico	Fort Sumner
Dona Ana County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	In honor of Doña Ana Robledo, a seventeenth century Spanish woman known for her charitable giving to the native population	Las Cruces
Eddy County	25 Feb 1889	Lincoln County	In honor of Charles Eddy, a rancher and developer of the area	Carlsbad
Grant County	30 Jan 1868	Doña Ana County	In honor of Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885); commanding general of the Union Army during the American Civil War general and 18th President of the United States (1869-1877)	Silver City
Guadalupe County	26 Feb 1891	San Miguel County	In honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas	Santa Rosa
Harding County	04 Mar 1921	Mora and Union Counties	In honor of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923), the 29th President of the United States (1921-1923)	Mosquero
Hidalgo County	25 Feb 1919	Grant County	In honor of Miguel Hidalgoy Costilla (1753-1811), the priest who is known as the "Father of Mexican Independence"	Lordsburg
Lea County	07 Mar 1917	Chaves and Eddy Counties	In honor of Joseph Calloway Lea, a captain in the U.S. Army and the founder of the New Mexico Military Academy	Lovington
Lincoln County	16 Jan 1869	Socorro County	In honor of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), a lawyer and the 16th president of the United States (1861-1865)	Carrizozo
Los Alamos County	16 Mar 1949	Sandoval and Santa Fe Counties	Its county seat of Los Alamos, New Mexico, which itself is the Spanish name for the "cottonwood tree"	Los Alamos
Luna County	16 Mar 1901	Doña Ana and Grant Counties	In honor of Solomon Luna, the largest land owner in the county at the time of its creation; itself Spanish for "moon"	Deming
McKinley County	23 Feb 1899	Bernalillo County	In honor of William McKinley (1843-1901), the 25th president of the United States (1897-1901) until his assassination six months into his second term	Gallup
Mora County	01 Feb 1860	Taos County	Its county seat of Mora, New Mexico, which is itself named after "lo de mora", the Spanish term for "blackberry"	Mora
Otero County	30 Jan 1899	Doña Ana and Lincoln Counties	In honor of Miguel A. Otero, territorial delegate to U. S. Congress	Alamogordo
Quay County	28 Feb 1903	Guadalupe County	In honor of Matthew Stanley Quay, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania who supported New Mexico's statehood	Tucumcari
Rio Arriba County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	Its location on the upper Rio Grande. Rio Arriba is "upper river" in Spanish	Tierra Amarilla
Roosevelt County	28 Feb 1903	Chaves and Guadalupe Counties	In honor of Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th President of the United States (1901-1909)	Portales
San Juan County	24 Feb 1887	Bernalillo County	In honor of San Juan River, itself named after the Catholic saint	Bernalillo
San Miguel County	09 Jan 1852	Rio Arriba County	San Miguel de Bado Catholic Church, the first in the area	Aztec
Sandoval County	10 Mar 1903	One of the nine original counties	Sandoval family, prominent seventeenth century Spanish landowners	Las Vegas
Santa Fe County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	Spanish term meaning "holy faith," which refers to the spirituality of the founding missionaries	Santa Fe
Sierra County	03 Apr 1884	Doña Ana and Socorro Counties	Possibly named for the Black Range. Sierra is "mountain range" in Spanish.	Truth or Consequences
Socorro County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	Spanish term meaning "aid," which refers to the help Native Americans gave to starving travelers	Socorro
Taos County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	Its county seat of Taos, New Mexico. It was named for the nearby Taos Pueblo, an ancient Native American village. Taos is "red willow" in the Tiwa language	Taos
Torrance County	16 Mar 1903	Bernalillo and Valencia Counties	In honor of Francis J. Torrance, the developer of the New Mexico Central Railroad	Estancia
Union County	23 Feb 1893	Colfax, Mora and San Miguel Counties	The "union" of the three counties which donated land to form the new county	Clayton
Valencia County	06 Jan 1852	One of the nine original counties	The town of Valencia, New Mexico, which is itself named for Valencia, Spain	Los Lunas

List of Old Former / Extinct New Mexico Counties

New Mexico has counties that no longer are in existence. A lot of these counties were established and disbanded within the 19th century; county borders have modified very little since 1900 in the vast most of states.

The below New Mexico counties no longer exist:

?? County, New Mexico

Created ? from ?. It was abolished ? and re-established as ? County on ?.

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.

Map of New Mexico County Boundary Changes from 1845 to 1981

This Interactive Map of New Mexico Counties show the historical boundaries, names, organization, and attachments of every county, extinct county and unsuccessful county proposal from the creation of New Mexico from 1845-1981.

Fun Facts about New Mexico Counties

County Name Facts

The County names:

0 of them named for Native American words or people,

Counties by Year

In 1852 the first New Mexico counties were formed. The last county to be formed was Cibola County in 1981.

? County was the first county created on ?.
The last county to be formed was ? County on ?.

Facts for County Size

? County (000 sq mi) is the largest county in New Mexico.
? County (000 sq mi) is the smallest county in New Mexico.

Facts for County Population (2017 Est.)

? County (000) is the most populated county in New Mexico.
? County (000) is the least populated county in New Mexico.

Facts for New Mexico Counties and Cities

New Mexico’s 33 largest cities (2033) are:

Birmingham (000) is in ? County and ? Counties
New Mexico are Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho, Roswell, Farmington, Clovis, Hobbs, Alamogordo and Carlsbad