San Antonio is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

in Socorro County,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, United States, roughly in the center of the state, on the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

Description

San Antonio is partly

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

, and partly a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for Socorro. San Antonio is the gateway to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, 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 st ...

runs along the west, and

U.S. Route 380 U.S. Route 380 (US 380) is an east–west United States highway. The highway's eastern terminus is in Greenville, Texas at an intersection with Interstate 30, of which the easternmost 3–4 miles are concurrent with US 69 in a loop around ...

begins there and heads east to Carrizozo. The

is just to the east of San Antonio, and the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

runs through the community and has a small yard, little more than a siding. While still part of the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

, the town was the birthplace of

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotel magnate and politician who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916, Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature ...

. His father was a merchant and hotelier in San Antonio, and Hilton learned the hotel trade there. Hilton was one of the original legislators in the newly formed state of New Mexico, and founded the

Hilton Hotels Corporation Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Christ ...

. San Antonio is about 28 miles from

Trinity Site Trinity was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. MWT (11:29:21 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT) on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was of an implosion-type nuclear ...

, where the first nuclear bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945. Residents reported tremors like an earthquake and the town received some of the remnants of the mushroom cloud, resulting in some

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...

of the area, which faded quickly and does not persist today. The town was the meeting place for the scientists who detonated the bomb. The city supports a few small businesses, which include the original Owl Bar and Cafe (featured on an episode of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

's '' Burger Land'' in 2013), The Buckhorn Tavern (featured in 2009 on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

's '' Throwdown! with Bobby Flay'',), San Antonio Crane, a restaurant featuring Mexican food, a seasonal roadside market, and a general store. On July 15, 2018, San Antonio was hit by a thunderstorm that caused the small town to be covered with up to 2 ft of mud. This event received an emergency declaration from Governor Martinez. Highway 380 after this event was impossible to traverse, and the force of the flood water swept off the train tracks at the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe Railroad at the 380 crossing. This event helped justify funding for building a retention pond, and coming up with other plans to prevent similar future floods.

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, Lu ...

. Socorro High School is the comprehensive high school of the district.

References

External links

{{Coord, 33, 54, 58, N, 106, 52, 12, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Census-designated places in New Mexico Census-designated places in Socorro County, New Mexico New Mexico populated places on the Rio Grande

Description

Education

See also

References

External links