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Montezuma, New Mexico

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Las Vegas census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87731. It lies near Lime Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Montezuma quadrangle. It stands 6,719 feet above sea level.

Montezuma within San Miguel County

On record in Montezuma

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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

1 photograph,

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.

Montezuma Hotel, Gallinas Canyon, Las Vegas, San Miguel County, NM
Montezuma Hotel, Gallinas Canyon, Las Vegas, San Miguel County, NM
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

104 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 104 fires within 5 miles of Montezuma between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,083 acres in total. 37 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/undetermined48
Natural37
Debris and open burning9
Recreation and ceremony4
Smoking2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Arson/incendiarism1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
23 September 2002Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionFALL
18 September 2000Natural175 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMOON
8 August 2019Natural2.0 acresLas Vegas District20-40140164X
8 August 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSWAMP
7 August 2020Natural20 acresLas Vegas DistrictLA CUEVA CANYON
7 August 2003Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionPETERSON
30 August 2000Naturalunder an acreSanta Fe National ForestRUIDOSO
3 August 2012Natural3.5 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionLOS VIGILS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Miguel County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Montezuma: 6 unknowns, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium. 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
Los VigilesUraniumOccurrence
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in San Miguel County

Storms near this place

3 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Montezuma in 3 storm reports between 2017 and 2025: 1 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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
May 2025Tornado (EF0)Montezuma-Viewer near San Geronimo looking to the northeast observed a tornado in the distance.
August 2022Flash FloodMontezuma-Heavy rain on the Calf Canyon burn scar drained into Montezuma, flooding New Mexico State Road 65 and forcing the closure of the roadway at mile marker 4. Damages are not known.
August 2017HailMontezuma-Hail up to the size of tennis balls at Storrie Lake.

Every storm recorded in San Miguel 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
El Llano0.5 miles16
Los Vigiles0.7 miles16
Hot Springs0.8 miles16
San Antonio2.3 miles14
Trout Springs3.4 miles16
Las Vegas Town3.7 miles15
Arriba4.5 miles14
Gallinas4.5 miles16

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 MontezumaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6905523The 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 908848. 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.