Santa Rosa is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Guadalupe County,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, United States. The population was 2,848 at the 2010 census. It lies between

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

and

Tucumcari Tucumcari (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,278 at the 2020 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was established. History In 1901, the Chicago, ...

, situated on the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexic ...

at the intersection of

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and U.S. Route 54 and 84. The city is located on the western edge of the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the Nort ...

or "staked plains" of eastern New Mexico and west

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

History

The first Euro-American settlement in the area was Agua Negra Chiquita, "Little Black Water" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, in 1865. The name was changed in 1890 to Santa Rosa (Spanish for "Saint Rose"), referring to a chapel tha
Don Celso Baca
(the founder of the city) built and named after both his mother Rosa and Saint Rose of Lima. The "Rosa" may also refer to the roses in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and is indicative of the

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

of the Spanish colonizers who settled in the area. At the turn of the twentieth century, Santa Rosa was not the largest settlement within the region.

Puerto de Luna Puerto de Luna is a census-designated place (CDP) in Guadalupe County, New Mexico, United States. It lies approximately miles () south-southeast of Santa Rosa on New Mexico State Road 91 and on the bank of the Pecos River. The community is l ...

, approximately ten miles south, held the county seat for Guadalupe County. Santa Rosa was smaller than Puerto de Luna until 1901 when the

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

was built into Santa Rosa from the east, quickly followed by arrival of the

El Paso and Northeastern Railway The El Paso and Northeastern Railway (EP&NE) was a short line railroad that was built around the beginning of the twentieth century to help connect the industrial and commercial center at El Paso, Texas, with physical resources and the United S ...

in February 1902, from the southwest, thereby creating a

transcontinental Transcontinental may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Transcontinental", a song by the band Pedro the Lion from the album ''Achilles Heel'' * TC Transcontinental, a publishing, media and marketing company based in Canada, a subsidiary o ...

connection. As the terminus and interchange point of the two railroads, a thriving community quickly developed (The interchange was moved to Tucumcari after 1907). The county seat was moved to Santa Rosa from PDL in 1903. The east-west highway through the town was designated as U.S. Route 66 in 1926, and the increase in traffic made the community a popular rest stop with motels and cafes. Santa Rosa's stretch of Route 66 is part of film history. When

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

's epic novel, ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

'', was made into a

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, director

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

used Santa Rosa for the memorable

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

scene. Tom Joad (

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset. It was also one of the shooting scenes for '' Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw'' starring

Lynda Carter Lynda Jean Cordova Carter (born July 24, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. Carter is best known as the star of t ...

in the role of Bobbi Jo. Santa Rosa was the childhood home of author Rudolfo Anaya, and is the basis for the fictional town of Guadalupe in his autobiographical novel ''

Bless Me, Ultima ''Bless Me, Ultima'' is a coming-of-age novel by Rudolfo Anaya centering on Antonio Márez y Luna and his mentorship under his ''curandera'' and protector, Ultima. It has become the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the Chicano l ...

''.

Geography

Santa Rosa has many natural lakes, an anomaly in the dry

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

climate surrounding it. These are

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s that form in the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

bedrock of the area and fill with water, and thus the lakes are connected by a network of underground, water-filled tunnels. The most famous of these is

Blue Hole A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock ( limestone or coral reef). Their existence was discovered in the late 20th century by fishe ...

, a popular spot for diving, where cool water forms a lake over deep. Santa Rosa is located near the center of Guadalupe County at (34.942166, -104.683981). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.52%, is water.

Climate

Santa Rosa experiences a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

BSk).

Transport

Highways

serves the city with three exits (273, 275, and 277); the highway leads east to

and west to

. U.S. Route 84 leads southeast to

Fort Sumner Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo. History On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the construction of For ...

, and U.S. Route 54 leads southwest to Vaughn. "Route 66" remains the name of the main east-west thoroughfare through the city, referring to former U.S. Route 66, which lost its official designation in 1985. New Mexico State Road 91 runs south to

Railroad

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

provides freight service. No passenger service has been available since 1968.

Airport

Santa Rosa Route 66 Airport is located east of the city. Currently there is no scheduled passenger service.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 2,744 people, 898 households, and 616 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 645.7 people per square mile (249.3/km). There were 1,024 housing units at an average density of 241.0 per square mile (93.0/km). The racial makeup of the city was 57.47%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 2.19%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.75% Native American, 0.87%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 33.13% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 4.56% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 81.16% of the population. There were 898 households, out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.1% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 135.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 145.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,085, and the median income for a family was $28,782. Males had a median income of $20,161 versus $16,417 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $11,168. About 18.9% of families and 23.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 27.5% of those under age 18 and 23.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Its school district is

Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools Santa Rosa Consolidated School District, also known as Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools (SRCS), is a school district headquartered in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Within Guadalupe County, New Mexico, Guadalupe County the district includes Santa Rosa, A ...

. It operates Santa Rosa Elementary School, Santa Rosa Middle School, and Santa Rosa High School.

Sports

Santa Rosa High School's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team won back-to-back-to-back state championships in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 AA state championships. The 2010 and 2011 victories were won against teams which were undefeated until the championship. In 2010 the Santa Rosa Lions beat the Tularosa Wildcats, and in 2011 the Santa Rosa Lions beat the

Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...

Cardinals. In 2012, the Santa Rosa Lions went undefeated, shutting out the Tularosa Wildcats in the championship. The Lions also won championships in 1955, 1993, 1996, 1998, and 2007. Santa Rosa High School was also among the first in the country to establish a

lawn mower racing Lawnmower racing is a form of motorsport in which competitors race modified lawnmowers, usually of the ride-on or self-propelled variety. The original mower engines are retained, but blades are removed for safety. The sport attracts all ages, an ...

club.

Notable people

* Anarquia, professional wrestler * Rudolfo Anaya, author known for ''

'' * Charles E. Barnhart, attorney and politician *

Dave Campos Dave Campos (born 1942, Santa Rosa, New Mexico) is a top-fuel drag motorcycle racer and held the motorcycle land speed record from 1990 until 2006. Motorcycle world land speed record Campos set both the AMA and FIM absolute speed records on Sat ...

, motorcycle racer *

Joe A. Campos Jose "Joe" A. Campos (born June 8, 1961) is a politician and businessman from Santa Rosa, New Mexico Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,848 at the 2010 census. ...

, former member of the

New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico. The most recent elections were held on November 3, 2020. Composition Leadership Cu ...

* Santiago E. Campos, attorney and jurist * George Dodge, former member of the

Miguel Marquez Miguel Marquez (born 1967) is a national correspondent for CNN, currently based in CNN's New York offices. His earlier journalistic positions have included stints with WNBC-TV in New York City (1998–1999) and KSAZ-TV in Phoenix, Arizona (1999� ...

, national correspondent for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

Lucy Scarbrough Lucy Scarbrough (born Ardans June 26, 1927 – June 13, 2020) was an American pianist, conductor and educator. She taught at El Paso Community College (EPCC), and founded the El Paso Chopin Piano Festival in El Paso, Texas. Biography Lucy (née ...

, noted pianist, conductor, and educator.

References

External links

City of Santa Rosa official website

Santa Rosa Blue Hole official website

New Mexico True: Santa Rosa
{{authority control Cities in Guadalupe County, New Mexico Cities in New Mexico County seats in New Mexico 1865 establishments in New Mexico Territory