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La Union, New Mexico

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the South Doña Ana census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88021. The Survey maps it on the La Union quadrangle. 997 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,799 feet above sea level.

La Union within Doña Ana County

Population over time

2 figures

La Union fell from 1,106 to 997 between 2010 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
20101,106
2020997-109 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 15 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.

Fires near this place

16 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of La Union between 1992 and 2020, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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
Debris and open burning5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1

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
2 July 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionCCT
4 June 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.1 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGARDNER
28 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceCOACH FIRE
26 June 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.6 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceLA JUNTA
17 June 2019Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLas Cruces Field OfficeVINTON
3 May 2012Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceRAILROAD FIRE
7 April 2014Railroad operations and maintenance6.1 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceDONIPHAN
6 April 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceMORRILL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Doña Ana County

Storms near this place

8 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Union in 8 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 7 flash flood, 1 hail. 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
August 2021Flash FloodLa Union$750,000Water topped an earthen dam and resulted in flooding across much of La Union. Several cars were washed off the road and some houses were inaccessible for awile. Several inches of standing water also resulted across the area due to the heavy rain. This was all the result of almost 2 inches of rain in about an hour.
August 2021Flash FloodLa Union$250,000Widespread flooding was reported across La Union due to over 7 inches of rain over the previous 3 days from just north of Domenici Highway through La Union. The Dona Ana County Emergency Manager ordered evacuations of La Union due to the flooding and possible dam breach of an earthen dam to the west of town.
August 2021Flash FloodLa Union$250,000Another round of heavy rain hit La Union down to Santa Teresa a day after flooding had already occurred in the area. Over a foot and a half of water was reported on Alvarez Road in La Union while down in Santa Teresa, Hansen Circle was impassable due to overflowing water from a retention pond.
August 2025Flash FloodLa Union-Water flowed across Visnaga Street due to heavy rainfall.
July 2025Flash FloodLa Union-The Dona Ana Emergency Manager reported fast flowing water at Mercantil and Sentenario Streets as well as just south of this point at Conejo Street.
September 2021Flash FloodLa Union-Fire official reported some sink holes and a couple of cars swept away in La Union. Radar estimated about 1 inch of rain in less than an hour.
August 2016Flash FloodLa Union-Flash flooding reported along Alvarez Road with mud and debris across road.
July 2008HailLa Union-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Doña Ana 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
La Union Vieja0.8 miles15
El Ojito3.9 miles15
Anthony4.7 miles15
Vevay5.7 miles12
Hacienda Acres5.7 miles15
Strauss6.3 miles14
Chamberino6.3 miles15
Orange6.3 miles14

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 UnionAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5965410The 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 920626. 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.

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.