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Monticello is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
located in Sierra County,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, United States. Monticello is located on
Alamosa Creek Alamosa Creek, also known as Alamosa Arroyo and Alamosa River, is a tributary stream of the Rio Grande in Socorro and Sierra County, New Mexico. Alamosa Creek has its source at at an elevation of 7600 ft / 2,316 meters on the western slope ...
, northwest of
Truth or Consequences ''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), ...
. Monticello has a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
with ZIP code 87939.


History


Canada Alamosa

What became Monticello was first some farms established by 1863 in the upper part of the valley, originally named Cañada Alamosa, through which
Alamosa Creek Alamosa Creek, also known as Alamosa Arroyo and Alamosa River, is a tributary stream of the Rio Grande in Socorro and Sierra County, New Mexico. Alamosa Creek has its source at at an elevation of 7600 ft / 2,316 meters on the western slope ...
(then called Arroyo Alamosa or Rio Alamosa) ran to the Rio Grande. These farms were owned by residents of a native New Mexican agricultural settlement named San Ygnacio de la Alamosa that had been founded in 1859. San Ygnacio de la Alamosa, commonly called Alamosa, was located at the confluence of the Arroyo Alamosa and the Rio Grande along the wagon road that ran along the west side of the river between
Fort Craig Fort Craig was a U.S. Army fort located along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, near Elephant Butte Lake State Park and the Rio Grande in Socorro County, New Mexico. The Fort Craig site was approximately 1,050 feet east-west by 600 feet north-so ...
and Fort Thorn. Alamosa was the town which was called ''Canada Alamosa'' in
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
reports, that was the site of
Battle of Canada Alamosa The Battle of Canada Alamosa as it was known to the Union Army, or Alamosa as it was known to the Confederates, was a skirmish of the American Civil War on the late evening of September 24 and the morning of September 25, 1861. It was one of s ...
between a Confederate reconnaissance force under
Bethel Coopwood Bethel Coopwood (1827–1907) was born in Alabama, and moved to Texas and was a soldier in the Mexican–American War and an officer in the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. He was a lawyer, judge, and later a historian. Early life, Ala ...
and New Mexican militia under John H. Minks. Robert Nicholson Scott, Henry Martyn Lazelle, George Breckenridge Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Joseph William Kirkley, Frederick Crayton Ainsworth, John Sheldon Moodey, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, SERIES I, VOLUME IV, United States. War Dept, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1882
Wilson, John P., Between the River and the Mountains: A History of Early Settlement in Sierra County, New Mexico, Report #40, John P. Wilson, Las Cruces, New Mexico, August 1985
/ref> Flooding along the Rio Grande in the summer of 1862, destroyed crops in the river valley at Alamosa. This resulted, in 1863, in the relocation of farms up the Cañada Alamosa to an area watered by springs, near the mountains, below the mouth of a narrow canyon from which the Arroyo Alamosa flowed. After flooding destroyed Alamosa in 1867 many of its residents moved up the valley to farm near and live in the new town, called Canada Alamosa, that had been organized sometime between 1864 and 1866. Others moved across the river and downstream a couple of miles to start a new town Alamocita to farm on the opposite side of the river. Alamocita also was six miles north of Fort McRae established in April 1863 to protect these new settlements from the Apache, along with the traffic along the river and the old road to the east in the Jornada del Muerto. This fort and its garrison would provide its protection and economic benefits to citizens of the towns over the years of its operation until it was closed on October 30, 1876.


Monticello

In 1881, Canada Alamosa was renamed Monticello, after Monticello, New York, the former home of an influential early settler. A post office called Monticello has been in operation since 1881.


Education

Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools is a school district headquartered in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Truth or Consequences (often abbreviated as T or C) is a city in New Mexico, and the county seat of Sierra County. In 2020, the ...
is the school district for the entire county.
Text list
/ref> Truth or Consequences Middle School and Hot Springs High School, both in Truth or Consequences, are the district's secondary schools.


References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Sierra County, New Mexico Unincorporated communities in New Mexico