Los Cerrillos, New Mexico facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Los Cerrillos, New Mexico
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Historic Antonio Simoni store, Cerrillos
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Location of Los Cerrillos, New Mexico
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 Los Cerrillos, New Mexico
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | New Mexico |
| County | Santa Fe |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.37 sq mi (8.72 km2) |
| • Land | 3.37 sq mi (8.72 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 5,758 ft (1,755 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 258 |
| • Density | 76.67/sq mi (29.60/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
| ZIP codes |
87010
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| Area code(s) | 505 |
| FIPS code | 35-42600 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2408135 |
Los Cerrillos is a small town in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA. It is often called just Cerrillos by people who live there. In 2020, about 258 people lived in Los Cerrillos.
You can reach Cerrillos by taking State Highway 14, also known as The Turquoise Trail. It is located between the cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, closer to Santa Fe.
The town has a few shops, art galleries, and a post office. You can also visit the Cerrillos Hills State Park, which has five miles of trails for hiking. The Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum shows many old items from the American Old West and the local mining area. It also has information about movies filmed in Cerrillos, like Young Guns.
Contents
Exploring Cerrillos: Geography and Location
Los Cerrillos is a small community. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town covers an area of about 1.4 square miles (3.6 square kilometers), and all of it is land.
People of Los Cerrillos: Demographics
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 2020 | 258 | — | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
In 2000, there were 229 people living in Los Cerrillos. About half of the people were of Hispanic or Latino background. The town had 111 households, and 59 of them were families.
The people living in Los Cerrillos were of different ages:
- About 18% were under 18 years old.
- About 32% were between 25 and 44 years old.
- About 33% were between 45 and 64 years old.
- About 15% were 65 years or older.
The average age of people in Los Cerrillos was 44 years.
A Look Back: The History of Los Cerrillos
People have lived in the Galisteo River area for a very long time, possibly as far back as 10,500 years ago. Over many centuries, different communities lived here. We know this from old items found, like pottery, tools, and religious objects.
Ancient Mining of Turquoise
The Ancestral Puebloans, who were early Native American people, started mining for a beautiful blue-green stone called turquoise in the Cerrillos Hills around 700-900 AD. They had long-term settlements, some dating back to the 1200s. Later, in the 1400s, groups like the Apache and Navajo also came to the area. By the time the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado arrived in the 1540s, some of the Native American villages were empty.
Spanish Arrival and Mining
Mining in the Cerrillos Hills continued when Spanish explorers arrived. The Spanish used Native American workers to mine these valuable materials. In 1581, the Spanish found lead-silver in the "Sierra de San Mateo," which is now the Cerrillos Hills. The Spanish settled in the area permanently in the early 1600s.
A Spanish explorer named Antonio de Espejo wrote about the treasures being mined in a place of "little hills." This is how Cerrillos got its name, as "Cerrillos" means "little hills" in Spanish.
Around 1680, a terrible event happened: a landslide in the hills caused mines to collapse, trapping and burying about 25 miners. When the Spanish tried to restart mining, the Native workers protested. Later, in the late 1600s, problems like drought and diseases caused Native American turquoise mining to stop. Many Tewa people left the area.
Later History and the Mining Boom
During the 1700s, the Spanish continued to claim land and mines in the area. After Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821, more trade happened. Later, after the Mexican-American War in 1848, the US Government made it easier for people from other places to buy land.
In 1871, a man named Stephen B. Elkins bought land near the Galisteo River. He planned to build a mining town there, connected to the railroad. In 1879, two miners found more valuable metals in the Cerrillos Hills. By 1880, there were several mining camps with many people. More discoveries led to a big economic boom. Eventually, over 2,000 mines were started in the hills. March 8, 1880, was even called Cerrillos Founder's Day. Besides turquoise, the mines produced gold, copper, silver, and other metals.
The railroad reached Cerrillos Station on February 15, 1880. This rapid growth brought many opportunities. In the 1880s, the town grew quickly, with saloons, a school, churches, stores, and hotels being built.
Electricity came to Cerrillos around 1899 or 1901, and telephone lines arrived in 1905. However, by 1900, many mines started to close down. The number of people living in the area decreased during the Great Depression and World War II. In 1961, the Cerrillos primary school closed because there were not enough students.
Today, only a few of the old buildings from Cerrillos' busy past remain. Some buildings on Main Street still show signs of movies that were filmed there. In 2000, Santa Fe County bought land in the Cerrillos Hills to create a historic park, which was later renamed Cerrillos Hills State Park in 2009.
Learning in Los Cerrillos: Education
Students in Los Cerrillos attend schools that are part of the Santa Fe Public Schools district.
Currently, students are zoned to:
- Amy Biehl Elementary School
- Milagro Middle School
- Santa Fe High School
Before 2017, students went to Capital High School. However, the school district decided to change the boundaries so students would attend Santa Fe High School instead.
Images for kids
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Historic Antonio Simoni store, Cerrillos
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Location of Los Cerrillos, New Mexico
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Amtrak's Southwest Chief train passing Devil's Throne, an igneous intrusion rising to an altitude of 5,638 ft (1,718 m) approximately 3⁄4 mi (1.2 km) northwest of Los Cerrillos (2017)
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A fine Cerrillos Turquoise specimen at the Smithsonian
See also
In Spanish: Los Cerrillos (Nuevo México) para niños
