Socorro, New Mexico
| Socorro, New Mexico | |
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| City | |
Socorro Aerial View
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 Location of Socorro in Socorro County, New Mexico |
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 Socorro, New Mexico
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| Coordinates: 34°3′42″N 106°53′58″W / 34.06167°N 106.89944°WCoordinates: 34°3′42″N 106°53′58″W / 34.06167°N 106.89944°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Mexico |
| County | Socorro |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ravi Bhasker |
| Area | |
| • Total | 14.4 sq mi (37.4 km2) |
| • Land | 14.4 sq mi (37.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,603 ft (1,403 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 9,051 |
| • Density | 630/sq mi (240/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 87801 |
| Area code(s) | 575 |
| FIPS code | 35-73540 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0938832 |
| Website | www |
Socorro is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of 4,579 feet (1,396 m). In 2012 the population was 8,906. It is the county seat of Socorro County. Socorro is located 74 miles (119 km) south of Albuquerque and 146 miles (235 km) north of Las Cruces.
In June 1598, Juan de Oñate led a group of Spanish settlers through the Jornada del Muerto, an inhospitable patch of desert that ends just south of the present-day city of Socorro. As the Spaniards emerged from the desert, Piro Indians of the pueblo of Teypana gave them food and water. Therefore, the Spaniards renamed this pueblo Socorro, which means "help" or "aid". Later, the name "Socorro" would be applied to the nearby Piro pueblo of Pilabó.
Nuestra Señora de Perpetuo Socorro, the first Catholic mission in the area, was probably established c. 1626. Fray Agustín de Vetancurt would later write that around 600 people lived in the area during this period. Mines in the Socorro mountains were opened by 1626.
During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Spanish refugees stopped in the pueblo of Socorro. A number of Piro Indians followed the Spaniards as they left the province to go south to safety. With no protection of Spanish troops, Socorro was destroyed and the remaining Piro were killed by the Apache and other tribes.
The Spanish did not initially resettle Socorro when they re-conquered New Mexico. Other than El Paso, there were no Spanish settlements south of Sabinal (which is approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Socorro) until the 1800s. In 1800, governor Fernando Chacon gave the order to resettle Socorro and other villages in the area. However, Socorro was not resettled until about 1815. In 1817, 70 Belen residents petitioned the crown for land in Socorro. The 1833 Socorro census lists over 400 residents, with a total of 1,774 people living within the vicinity of the village.
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Wikipedia