Villanueva is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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 San Miguel 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. Known as La Cuesta until 1890, it is located along the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) 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 Mexico, at an elev ...

and

New Mexico State Road 3 New Mexico State Road 3 (NM 3) is a north-south state highway in the state of New Mexico. NM 3's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 54 (US 54) in the small town of Duran, and the northern terminus is at Frontage Road 2116 (FR 211 ...

. Villanueva has the ZIP code 87583. The 87583

ZIP Code Tabulation Area ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics. These were introduced with the Census 2000 and continued with the 2010 Census and 5 year American Community ...

had a population of 234 in the 2010 United States census, compared to 267 in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. A total of 211 residents of Villanueva in 2010 identified themselves as

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

History

Prior to 1786, when a peace treaty was concluded with the

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

, Spanish settlements in New Mexico were confined to 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 ...

valley. The reduced threat from Comanche raids permitted the expansion eastwards of Spanish settlements onto the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. Villanueva was one of the settlements founded in the

Valley as part of that expansion. A principal reason for founding the Pecos Valley settlements was to defend the Spanish and Pueblan settlements in the Rio Grande valley from raids by

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

and other Indian peoples. Villanueva, a

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

colonial village, was founded in 1808 and originally called ''La Cuesta'' (Spanish, ''hill'' or ''slope'') because the village sits on top of a steeply sloping hill or

cuesta A cuesta () is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology, the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somew ...

overlooking the Pecos River.Geology of Villanueva area
/ref> La Cuesta was one of the communities located within the

San Miguel del Vado Land Grant The San Miguel del Vado Land Grant (also known as the San Miguel del Bado Land Grant) is one of the Spanish land grants in New Mexico. On November 24, 1794, 53 men submitted a petition for land and were granted temporary possession on November 24, ...

. The grant was approved by the Spanish government in 1794 and settlements established in the land grant area included Bernal, El Pueblo, Entrnosa, Guzano, La Cuesta, Las Mulas, Puertecito, San Jose del Vado, and

San Miguel del Vado San Miguel del Vado (; also spelled ''Bado'') is an unincorporated community in San Miguel County, New Mexico, San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Description The community is located about south of Interstate 25 in New Mexico, Inters ...

. Families from La Cuesta established the community of Anton Chico, on the Pecos River downstream from La Cuesta, in 1822 and El Cerrito, downstream from La Cuesta, from 1824-1827. A church, still existing, was built in La Cuesta in 1831. By 1835 and thereafter, La Cuesta was one of the most populous settlements in the Pecos Valley. In 1845 La Cuesta probably had a population approaching 500 people. Many

Cibolero A Cibolero (plural: ''ciboleros'') was a Hispanic, Spanish colonial (and later Mexican) Bison hunting, buffalo hunter from New Mexico. The Spanish word for buffalo as used in New Mexico is ''cibolo''; hence, the name ''Cibolero'' for buffalo hunter. ...

s (buffalo hunters) and

Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century Merchant, traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Native Americans in the United States, Indian tribes in northeaste ...

s (traders with the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

), of the 19th century originated from La Cuesta and other Hispano communities along the Pecos River. In 1890, the community was renamed to Villanueva, for a prominent local family.

Geography

Climate

Villanueva has a BWk (Semi-arid cold

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

climate) under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system. Under the

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

Villanueva has a BSK (Semi-arid steppe with hot summers and cool winters). Precipitation in the community is concentrated from May to October although an average of of snow is received each winter.

Demographics

Area attractions

East of Villanueva is

Villanueva State Park Villanueva State Park is a state park of New Mexico, United States, located on the banks of the Pecos River. The park features red and yellow sandstone cliffs, cottonwood trees, and other native plants. Villanueva State Park's elevation is 6,110 ...

, a colorful canyon cut by the

Education

It is in the

West Las Vegas Schools West Las Vegas Public Schools is a school district based in Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States. The district covers a area in southern San Miguel County. Within the city of Las Vegas, the district serves areas located west of the Gallinas ...

school district.

West Las Vegas High School West Las Vegas High School (WLVHS) is a public senior high school in Las Vegas, New Mexico and the only such high school in the West Las Vegas Schools District. Founded in 1947, it is the oldest high school in the city. The mascot of WLVHS is ...

is the area high school.

References

External links

Villanueva community profile
* 1870 Census of La Cuesta (Villanueva)
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{{authority control Unincorporated communities in New Mexico Unincorporated communities in San Miguel County, New Mexico