Agua Fria, New Mexico

Agua Fria, New Mexico
—  CDP  —
Location of Agua Fria, New Mexico
Coordinates: 35°39′33″N 106°0′45″W
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	Santa Fe
Area
• Total	2.0 sq mi (5.2 km2)
• Land	2.0 sq mi (5.1 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	6,562 ft (2,000 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	2,051
• Density	1,048.7/sq mi (404.9/km2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	87501
Area code(s)	505
FIPS code	35-01220
GNIS feature ID	0918018

House in Agua Fria, circa 1900

Agua Fria is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,051 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Agua Fria is located at 35°39′33″N 106°0′45″W (35.659143, -106.012412).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²), of which, 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (2.49%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,051 people, 721 households, and 508 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,048.7 people per square mile (404.0/km²). There were 760 housing units at an average density of 388.6 per square mile (149.7/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 64.31% White, 0.59% African American, 1.66% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 28.47% from other races, and 4.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79.23% of the population.

There were 721 households out of which 41.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,978, and the median income for a family was $33,456. Males had a median income of $25,539 versus $25,565 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $14,023. About 21.5% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.7% of those under age 18 and 35.0% of those age 65 or over.

Marty Robins' song Big Iron is set in the town of Agua Fria, Arizona where a notorious outlaw faces off against the local ranger, with fatal consequences to the criminal. Michael Martin Murphy of Taos does a song where he mentions Agua Fria, New Mexico.

History

Agua Fria and Agua Frians have lived in the shadow of the Capitol City, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís for over three hundred years. Agua Fria has been a low-keyed settlement which has survived without much fanfare, formal governance and recognition. Making current and future residents aware of our history and separate identity has been a priority of Agua Fria Village Association (AFVA) when we petitioned the County of Santa Fe to place “Welcome” signs on the boundaries of the Village. The community tried to incorporate in 1960 and 1995 to protect itself from the encroachments of the City of Santa Fe. We have been engaged in several historic preservation projects that are explained throughout this Resolution. On several occasions in the life of the AFVA, organization members have requested that an “official historian” of the AFVA be appointed and that oral histories be done so that our patrimony is not lost. In 1996, William Mee as a AFVA member, and through the AFVA Board of Directors submitted a proposal to the Santa Fe Public Schools to utilize a Special Education building (which was deemed obsolete and no longer needed by SFPS) that was built by the WPA in 1934 as a museum. A $50,000 grant application was submitted to the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management for restoration and operational funding of the Museum which would have been on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail.

As we justify our existence as the “entity of Agua Fria Village,” we are consistently challenged to show the documentation of why we are a village of historical significance, or an “organized” place of settlement. Having a standard and official history of the Village and an inventory of supporting evidence will permanently answer these issues which continue to plague us and have resulted in our community being named as one of the “Most Endangered Places in 2004”.

Often Hispanic settlements in Northern New Mexico are just places on the map for hundreds of years without formalized boundaries and governmental structures; no mayor or village council. They managed themselves for hundreds of years by having an informal system of mayordomos from the church and the acequias, and that was all the governance that was needed. They had a belief system in the “wisdom of the elders” and in an adherence to tradition, and that was enough to carry them through. Record keeping was poor and paper was often scarcest. If records were kept they would be in Spanish and would conform to the 1680 Laws of the Indies requirements and not the English Common Law which the Founding Fathers of the United States of America based our modern record keeping systems on. The City of Santa Fe was only incorporated as a town in 1896 under territorial laws. When Spanish records met Anglo records they were often just simply thrown away like Territorial Governor Pile did at the Palace of the Governors.

Agua Fria Village became a place of modern recorded settlement in New Mexico when Sergeant Major (Maestro Campo) Roque Madrid was given a land grant on the Santa Fe River from Ojito Fresco to Pueblo Quemado in 1693 by General Don Diego de Vargas for his service in the 1692 “Reconquest” of New Mexico by the Spanish Crown. His request was granted based on his parents and grandparents having farmed this area prior to the revolt. Other land grants were given to other soldiers and the ditches from the Santa Fe River (acequias) were extended and carried water to the flat lands of Agua Fria, which had been used for farming for centuries.

The individual grants of the Agua Fria Village residents went from the Arroyo de los Chamisos (near the present day Santa Fe Place Mall) to the Arroyo de los Frijoles or the southern most boundary of the San Ildefonso Pueblo grant; a distance of some five to seven miles in length. Lots were narrower in width and may have been only 600 to 900 feet (200 or 300 yards or varas).

As these settlements of Cieneguitas, Agua Fria and Cieneguilla sprung up, they were called Ranchitos, as the population grew Agua Fria became a Placita. Agua Fria was identified by two groups. The area by the Church was “La Placita de Los Romeros” and the other one in the area of the Tanque, the “watering hole” (area of Lopez Lane and Camino de Oro Road) became “La Placita de Los Lopez.” As the community grew, it acquired the status of a Village (From personal conversation with Melinda Romero Pike February 21, 2011).

In the early eighteen hundreds, Jose Jacinto Gallegos and his wife Florentina Dominguez were among the first Spanish settlers in Agua Fria, which contained several natural springs, woodlands and a perpetual flowing river; and, Jose Jacinto Gallegos and Florentina conceived six children; Maria Albina, Nestor, Deluvina, Elias and noted santero Celso Gallegos; and, the parroquia of Santa Fe was administered under the auspices of the Diocese of Durango, Mexico in the 1800s. Even though, the people here in Agua Fria had a strong faith, yet they found it difficult to attend services at the parroquia in Santa Fe. A man of great ingenuity, perception and good judgment sustained in great faith introduced the idea of building a church in the community. He volunteered to donate the land if the members of the community helped erect the church. The neighbors agreed and Don Jose Jacinto Gallegos went to the site with his neighbors, tossed his hat to the four winds to determine the site of the structure. The church was erected in 1835, some fifteen years before the arrival of Jean Baptiste Lamy. Because the residents were farmers and reminiscing of the Patron of Spain, they named their church SAN ISIDRO (from Melinda Romero Pike, People of God newsletter, May 2010, Archdiocese of Santa Fe).

Agua Fria Village is designated as a Traditional Historic Community (THC) in accordance with the Agua Fria Zoning District Ordinance number 2007-2 adopted by the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners on March 13, 2007.

The Agua Fria Village Association (AFVA) on behalf of the Agua Fria Village Traditional Historic Community (THC) is the designated neighbor association in the THC area. The AFVA and other residents have participated in the development of the Agua Fria Community Plan adopted in Resolution 2006-116 by the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners on March 13, 2007 This plan better describes and documents the Village’s long history and unique present day character.