San Marcial, New Mexico facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
San Marcial
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 San Marcial
Location in New Mexico
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| Country | United States |
| State | New Mexico |
| County | Socorro County |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
San Marcial was a small town in New Mexico, United States. It was started in 1854 and managed to survive two big floods and a fire. However, it is now a ghost town, which means it's a deserted place with almost nothing left of the original town. A huge flood in 1929 completely destroyed it. San Marcial was located about 25 miles (40 km) south of Socorro.
The Story of San Marcial
How San Marcial Began
San Marcial was founded around 1854 by a man named Pascual Joyla. He built a house on the east side of the Rio Grande river. He started selling fresh food and firewood to people at Fort Conrad, a military fort nearby.
Soon, a small community grew around Joyla's house. The town was named after Saint Martial of Limoges, a French saint from the third century.
In 1866, a flood washed away the village. The people then moved and rebuilt their town on the other side of the river. But trouble struck again in July 1881, when a fire nearly burned down the entire new community. Even after these disasters, the town was rebuilt once more. It became an important center for the farms in the area that used irrigation to grow crops.
Growing and Prospering
When the railway came through the area in the 1880s, a new part of town started to grow. This new area was near the train station and was first called "New San Marcial." Later, it officially became known as San Marcial by the Post Office.
Between 1890 and 1920, San Marcial was the second largest town in Socorro County. By 1929, about 1,400 people lived there.
In 1917, people living in villages south of San Marcial were told to leave their homes. This was because the Elephant Butte Reservoir was being built, and their villages would be flooded. Many of these people moved to San Marcial or to Val Verde.
In 1920, another flood caused a lot of damage in the region, leaving many people without homes. After this, a lot of effort was put into building defenses to protect the town from future floods.
The End of the Town
On August 13, 1929, after a lot of heavy rain, a huge flood hit the area. The Socorro Chieftain newspaper reported on August 17, 1929:
Flooded Rio Grande Devastates Entire Towns; People Escape in Night Clothes – The first disaster occurring at 2:00 o'clock Tuesday morning (Aug. 13) when the highway bridge at San Acacia gave way sending a five foot flood through the town, giving many only time to escape to the foot hills to the west in their night clothes. Orchards, alfalfa fields with other valley crops in this district as well as at Polvadero and Lemitar are reported a total loss. From San Acacia to Lemitar, the water was spread out on both sides of the railroad three miles from bank to bank. With women and children safely out of town, men at San Marcial were fighting in the midst of crumbling structures in a last desperate effort to save their town from total destruction.
Some people tried to rebuild their homes after the August 13 flood. However, a second flood on September 23, 1929, finally put an end to the town. The main employer, the Santa Fe Railroad, decided to leave. Without the trains and the famous Harvey House restaurant, there was no reason for anyone to stay. A few people remained until the 1930 census, but the town was mostly empty.
Today, only a cemetery remains as a clear sign of where the town once stood. If you know where to look, you can still find parts of the Santa Fe Railroad's roundhouse.
