Polvadera (La Polvadera de San Lorenzo) 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 ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
in
Socorro County
Socorro County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,866. The county seat is Socorro. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties of New Mexico Territory. Socorro wa ...
in central
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, Ker ...
, United States. It is located on the west bank of the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, near the mouth of the
Rio Salado, and on the western spur of
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro ( en, Royal Road of the Interior Land), also known as the Silver Route, was a Spanish road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (''Ohkay Owingeh''), New Mexico, USA, that was used from 1598 to 1882. It was ...
.
Demographics
Name
The name may be based upon a Piro name for the place,
but altered in form because ''polvareda'' means ''dusty'' in Spanish, which, as US Army Lt. Emory noted in 1846, it certainly is. Other spellings of the name include Pulvidera and Pulvedera. The church in Polvadera was dedicated to
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Lorenzo, Santa Fe
* San Lorenzo Department, Chaco
* Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
and his feast day, August 10, is the local fiesta.
[Pearce, T. M. (1965) "Polvadera" ''New Mexico place names; a geographical dictionary'' University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 124]
OCLC 420847
/ref>
History
Polvadera was founded as a farming community in the 1620s after Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain, explorer, and colonial governor of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain. He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great Pla ...
had established the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...
, when Spanish settlers came north and settled among the Piro Pueblo Indians.[Federal Writers’ Project (1989) "Polvareda" ''The WPA Guide to 1930s New Mexico'' University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p. 251, ] The name of the original Piro pueblo there is unknown and its ruins, which may have been destroyed by the meandering of the Rio Grande, have not been excavated. In 1629 Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
s destroyed the pueblo of Polvareda. It was subsequently rebuilt, but was abandoned as a result of the Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than prese ...
of 1680, and because of further Apache raiding after the reconquest was not resettled again until the early 19th century after Governor Fernando Chacón
Fernando Chacón was a Spanish soldier who served as a governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, modern day New Mexico, between 1794 and 1804. He was a Knight of the Order of Santiago.
Biography
As a young boy, Chacón joined the Spanish Army. Event ...
reopened the area for settlement.
Apache and Navajo raids continued until after the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
when the US Army began a strenuous interdiction policy. The town was attacked as late as 1846 by over a hundred Navajo who made away with a large number of livestock.
Camp Connelly, sometimes called Fort Connelly,Henry Connelly
Henry Connelly (1800–August 12, 1866) was Governor of the New Mexico Territory during the American Civil War. He was appointed by President Lincoln and served from September 4, 1861 until July 6, 1866. During his term, the territory broke into ...
.[Rathburn, Daniel C. B. and Alexander, David V. (2003) "Connelly, Camp, Socorro County" ''New Mexico Frontier Military Place Names'' Yucca Tree Press, Las Cruces, New Mexico, p. 43, ] Lt. William Brady was sent there as a recruiting officer to process volunteers. Camp Connelly was only maintained until the end of the civil war in 1865.[Harden, Paul (2007) "The Mission Churches in Socorro County – Part 2", originally published in the ''El Defensor Chieftain'' of September 8, 2007](_blank)
/ref>
Polvadera has always been subject to the flooding of the Rio Grande. Major floods occurred in 1898, which destroyed the church, in 1929, and 1937.Interstate 25
Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...
was being built down the Rio Grande valley, Polvadera was not given an exit, the nearest exit provided was at Lemitar a few miles to the south.
Economy
Polvadera is primarily a farming community. Before Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, it had large areas devoted to grapes for the production of wine. More recently chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
has been the main crop.
Education
It is within Socorro Consolidated Schools
Socorro Consolidated School District (SCSD) or Socorro Consolidated Schools is a school district headquartered in Socorro, New Mexico.
Located within Socorro County, the district includes Socorro, Alamillo, Chamizal, Escondida, Lemitar, Luis L ...
. Socorro High School is the comprehensive high school of the district.
Attractions
Nearby, to the west of the community, is San Lorenzo Canyon, a popular hiking and picnic spot."San Lorenzo Canyon Recreation Area" US Bureau of Land Management
/ref>
Notes
External links
Polvadera Farming Community Page
"1997 Economic Census: ZIP Code Statistics 87828 (Polvadera, NM)"
US Census Bureau
Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
{{authority control
Census-designated places in New Mexico
Census-designated places in Socorro County, New Mexico
Unincorporated communities in Socorro County, New Mexico
Unincorporated communities in New Mexico