New Mexico is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located in present-day

Issaquena County, Mississippi Issaquena County (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ISS-ə-KWEEN-ə'') is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, its population was 1,338, making it the ...

, United States. New Mexico became extinct prior to the creation of Issaquena County in 1844, so the settlement existed only within

Washington County, Mississippi Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,922. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washingt ...

. Located directly on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, New Mexico was the first

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Washington County. In 1827 the United States Congress established a post road from New Mexico to the courthouse in

Yazoo County, Mississippi Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,743, and was estimated to be 23,024 in 2024. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its weste ...

. In 1830,

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

was named the county seat after New Mexico "caved into the river".

Location and description

Swiss water-colorist

Karl Bodmer Johann Carl Bodmer (11 February 1809 – 30 October 1893) was a Switzerland, Swiss-France, French printmaker, etcher, lithographer, zinc engraver, draftsman, draughtsman, painter, illustrator, and hunter. Known as Karl Bodmer in literature and p ...

traveled down the Mississippi River in the 1820s, and recorded New Mexico's location as "below the mouth of the Arkansas River". Bodmer painted ''New Mexico on the Mississippi'', depicting the settlement's inhabitants and layout. Historians have stated that New Mexico was located near present-day Mayersville.

References

Former populated places in Washington County, Mississippi Former populated places in Mississippi Mississippi populated places on the Mississippi River Former county seats in Mississippi {{US-ghost-town-stub