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La Cienega, New Mexico

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Santa Fe South census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87507. It lies near Cerro Seguro. The Survey maps it on the Tetilla Peak quadrangle. 3,885 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,932 feet above sea level.

La Cienega within Santa Fe County

Population over time

3 figures

La Cienega grew from 3,007 to 3,885 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20003,007
20103,819+812 (+27%)
20203,885+66 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 18 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

2 photographs, 2021

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

A handsome horse beside a wintertime copse of trees near La Cienega in a vast valley southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico
A handsome horse beside a wintertime copse of trees near La Cienega in a vast valley southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
La Cienega Acequia, Truchas Molino, 334 Los Pinos Road, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, NM
La Cienega Acequia, Truchas Molino, 334 Los Pinos Road, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, NM
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

69 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of La Cienega between 1993 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined29
Equipment and vehicle use13
Smoking10
Natural7
Debris and open burning7
Recreation and ceremony2
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
17 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
7 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionM60
6 August 2003Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionCR 45
11 August 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreBernalillo District21-60540190X
8 July 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreBernalillo District21-60180049X
7 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBernalillo District21-60160044X
6 July 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionOBOY
5 July 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionPINON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Fe County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 38 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 38 workings within 5 miles of La Cienega: 15 past producers, 14 unknowns, 3 occurrences, 3 prospects. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Zinc, Pumice, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Evelyn MineGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer1910, 1945
Evelyn MineCopper, GoldPast Producer
La BajadaUranium, Copper, SilverPast Producer
La Bajada MineCopper, Uranium, Silver, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Germanium, Nickel, Thorium, Sulfur, ArsenicPast Producer1915, 1979
La Cienga MineVolcanic MaterialsProducerCinders, Scoria
Lone Star MineUranium, Tin, Silver, Molybdenum, CopperPast Producer1915
Marshall Bonanza MineLead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, IronPast Producer1900, 1950
Pennsylvania MineLead, Zinc, Silver, GoldPast Producer1950, 1952
Trio ClaimLeadPast Producer
Turk #1 Or Turq #1GemstoneProducerTurquoise

Every working recorded in Santa Fe County

Storms near this place

14 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Cienega in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 6 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust devil. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1996Flash FloodLa Cienega$60,000no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindLa Cienega$30,000A dry microburst combined with a dust devil to rip the roof off a garage and to overturn small storage sheds.
May 2021HailLa Cienega$2,500A trained spotter estimated one inch hail from a severe thunderstorm near Los Cerrillos. The spotter reported that the hail broke a skylight and also stripped leaves from their trees. Damages are estimated for the damage to the skylight.
April 2026Dust DevilLa Cienega-A large and intense dust devil was observed in the Cochiti Pueblo.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindLa Cienega-A NMDOT mesonet station along I-25 at La Bajada measured a peak thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindLa Cienega-A mesonet station at La Bajada Hill along Interstate 40 recorded a wind gust of 70 mph from a severe thunderstorm.
May 2021HailLa Cienega-A social media user reported 1.25 inch hail from a severe thunderstorm near La Cienega.
August 2018HailLa Cienega-Hail up to the size of pennies near Eldorado. Most hail stones were the size of peas.
July 2013Flash FloodLa Cienega-Gold Mine Road was flooded and impassable for nearly 200 yards near Cerrillos. Major torrents of water raging in San Marcos Arroyo between Eldorado and NM 14 near Cerrillos were captured by local residents, many of whom described it as a rare sight.
July 2010Flash FloodLa Cienega-Multiple roads closed due to at least 10 inches of water flowing over the road. This included the low water crossing at Dawn Trail and Arroyo Trail, and also at Turquoise Trail and County Road 45.
July 2010Flash FloodLa Cienega-The intersection of Los Pinos and Sunrise in La Cienega was not passable due to high water and the road was closed for a time. A nearby arroyo had debris in it with fast moving water about 6 feet high. A backhoe had been left in the arroyo somewhat downstream the previous day. This piece of equipment was almost entirely enveloped in water and mud.
June 2007HailLa Cienega-The hail occurred in La Bajada, along the Santa Fe and Sandoval County border.
September 2008HailLa Cienega-no account filed
June 2007HailLa Cienega-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Fe County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Bonanza City (historical)1.7 miles17
Cieneguilla2.3 miles17
Valle Vista4.0 miles17
La Bajada5.8 miles18
Rosario7.7 miles17
Waldo (historical)7.8 miles17
Agua Fria8.6 miles20
Los Cerrilos8.6 miles17

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on La CienegaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2414716The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 918216. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.