Santa Cruz, New Mexico
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Santa Fe North census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87532. It stands on Arroyo del Llano. The Survey maps it on the Espanola quadrangle. 416 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,663 feet above sea level.
On record in Santa Cruz
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.
La Iglesia de Santa Cruz and Site of the Plaza of Santa Cruz de la Canadalisted 1973 · 0.1 miles away
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Santa Cruz Mission, Santa Cruzfederal building survey, 2 photographs
Population over time
3 figuresSanta Cruz fell from 423 to 416 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 423 | |
| 2010 | 368 | -55 (-13%) |
| 2020 | 416 | +48 (+13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 20 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1892 USGS Santa Clara quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Espanola quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Espanola quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Los Alamos quadrangle1:100000
- 1983 USGS Albuquerque quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Espanola quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 2002 USGS Espanola quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
323 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 323 fires within 5 miles of Santa Cruz between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,575 acres in total. 27 started naturally. 53 were 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 burning | 116 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 53 |
| Natural | 27 |
| Fireworks | 16 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 13 |
| Smoking | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Other causes | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | PHILIP |
| 7 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Northern Pueblos Agency | BROKEN AX |
| 7 September 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Santa Fe National Forest | RESUMEDERO |
| 3 September 1992 | Natural | 4.5 acres | Bandelier National Monument | CHURCH |
| 6 August 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | M50 |
| 31 August 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Santa Fe National Forest | JOE |
| 31 August 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Santa Fe National Forest | THINNING |
| 26 August 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Santa Fe National Forest | TANK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Santa Cruz: 3 prospects, 1 unknown, 1 occurrence, 1 producer. 1 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| San Jose No 13 Claim | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Bartholomew - Sanchez Grant Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lowdermilk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Materials Pit No. 55-70-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 59-60-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Materials Pit No. 59-62-S | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect |
Storms near this place
7 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Santa Cruz in 7 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 6 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2016 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | $100,000 | County roads 88 and 98 washed out, exposing pipes, water and utility lines. One vehicle was partially underwater at a nearby low water crossing. Mud, water, and debris were noted over State Road 76 and U.S. Highway 285. |
| July 2014 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | $15,000 | Emergency management reported 3 people were rescued from 2 vehicles in an arroyo in La Puebla. Local broadcast media reported just down the road that a clogged culvert around the Estrella del Norte Vineyard created a flood of water, mud, and debris through the winery. No major damage was reported to structures. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | $10,000 | A motorists attempting to cross a flooded roadway along the Santa Cruz River was swept away and rescued. Damage amounts are estimated for loss of the vehicle. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | $5,000 | Social media video shows a road washed out at intersection near E. Frontage Road and Bar D 4 Road near Santa Cruz south of Espanola. Road repair cost is an estimate. |
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | $5,000 | Highway 76 was closed due to flash flooding in the vicinity of La Puebla, southeast of Espanola. Four to five feet of rock and silt was washed over the road. Cars were washed into nearby arroyos. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Santa Cruz | - | A fast-moving thunderstorm produced quarter to half dollar size hail around Espanola. |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Santa Cruz | - | A brief burst of intense rainfall resulted in flash flooding along NM-76 east of Espanola. The NM Department of Transportation closed the road to clean up mud and debris. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santo Nino | 0.9 miles | 20 | |
| Sombrillo | 0.9 miles | 20 | |
| Quarteles | 1.8 miles | 20 | |
| Arroyo Seco | 2.1 miles | 20 | |
| Rancho Valle | 2.1 miles | 20 | |
| El Valle de Arroyo Seco | 2.2 miles | 20 | |
| La Puebla | 2.7 miles | 16 | |
| Potrero | 6.0 miles | 16 |
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 Santa Cruz | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2413662 | The 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 928814. 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.









