Built in 1893. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
“The James Gurden Fitch House, at 311 McCutcheon Ave. in Socorro, New Mexico, was built around 1893. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.”
Wikipedia article James Gurden Fitch House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 38 National Register listings published here for Socorro County · listed in 1991 · category: Building · built in 1893.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 90 fires within 5 miles of James Gurden Fitch House between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,017 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 6 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 2003 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Socorro Field Office | ESCONDIDO |
| 9 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | not named |
| 8 September 2000 | Smoking | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | MM143-I25 |
| 21 September 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Socorro Field Office | POWER LINE 2 |
| 12 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CONFLUENCE |
| 3 August 2011 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | RHODES |
| 24 August 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | RUSSIAN |
| 24 August 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | MONSOON |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of James Gurden Fitch House: 9 past producers, 8 prospects, 4 producers, 4 unknowns. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Perlite, Fluorine-Fluorite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Canyon Well | Geothermal | Unknown | ||
| Merritt Mine Prior To 1870 | Silver, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Barium-Barite, Manganese, Fluorine-Fluorite, Vanadium, Molybdenum, Arsenic | Past Producer | 1880, 1923 | |
| Socorro Mountain | Kaolin | Past Producer | Residual | |
| Socorro Peak District | Silver, Barium-Barite, Manganese | Past Producer | 1867 | |
| State of New Mexico Lease M-20347 To Bureau of Reclamation | Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Torrance | Barium-Barite | Prospect | ||
| Torrence Mine 1880 | Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Arsenic, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Manganese, Fluorine-Fluorite, Barium-Barite | Past Producer | 1880, 1923 | |
| Martinez Prospect | Fluorine-Fluorite | Past Producer | Fluorite | |
| Martinez Prospect | Fluorine-Fluorite | Occurrence | ||
| Great Lakes Carbon Corp. Socorro Deposit | Perlite | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Socorro, the town this property stands in, in 24 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 13 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2004 | Hail | Socorro | $40,000,000 | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Heavy Rain | Socorro | $200,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Socorro | $150,000 | Heavy rain near Socorro filled arroyos with runoff during the late evening. Several levees along Arroyo Matanza failed as additional strong runoff from the Magdalena Mountains overwhelmed a 90 degree turn in the arroyo just south of Socorro. Water flooded nearly 800 acres of farmland washing away fresh cut alfalfa hay and covering about 300 acres in heavy mud. An adjacent railroad bed was also undercut least 5 times along 2 miles of track. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Socorro | $60,000 | A mobile home overturned and landed on a car, and power lines were downed as a brief, but strong storm moved over Socorro. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Socorro | $20,000 | The metal roof of the Socorro County annex building was partially peeled off and significantly damaged. |
| September 2013 | Flood | Socorro | $5,000 | Franklin Street flooded and closed due to high water. Other streets in western Socorro also flooded out from heavy rainfall. |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Socorro | $5,000 | Isolated heavy rain of near 1 inch an hour produced heavy street flooding in Socorro. Several small arroyos, filled with weeds and other debris overflowed and caused damage to several homes. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Socorro | $3,000 | Several tree branches larger than 2 inches in diameter were broken off of trees from wind gusts estimated around 60 mph. In addition, high winds knocked the roof off of an abandoned single wide trailer, which fell onto the roof a neighboring house on Blue Canyon Dr. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Socorro | - | The county emergency manager estimated quarter size hail in Socorro. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Socorro | - | A trained spotter reported quarter size hail with a severe thunderstorm that moved through Socorro. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Socorro | - | Penny size hail and heavy rain reported on the NM Tech campus. |
| July 2017 | Lightning | Socorro | - | A 93-year old woman died from a lightning caused fire at her home of 80 years. She died from smoke inhalation. |
| October 2015 | Hail | Socorro | - | One inch accumulation of pea to nickel size hail. |
| July 2006 | Flash Flood | Socorro | - | Heavy street flooding was reported in Socorro and Sixmile Canyon just south of town filled 8 to 10 foot deep with roaring water during heavy rain. |
| August 2006 | Flash Flood | Socorro | - | Heavy rain of 2 to 3 inches on the west water shed area of Water Canyon caused flash flooding that moved east to Interstate 25 at Escondida. Some road and irrigation ditch repairs were wiped out by this fresh flooding. |
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Socorro | - | Heavy rain continued to flood roads north of Socorro with at least 2 State Police vehicles trapped on high ground between flooded arroyos. |
| September 2023 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| October 2015 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
| September 1996 | Hail | Socorro | - | no account filed |
3 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 593 issues, 2,484 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
| Newspaper | Published |
|---|---|
| The Socorro Chieftain | 1902 to 1959 |
| The Chieftain | 1890 to 1901 |
| The Socorro Chieftain | 1884 to 1890 |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Captain Michael Cooney House | under 500 feet | 1991 |
 | Nestor P. Eaton House | under 500 feet | 1991 |
 | House at 405 Park Street | under 500 feet | 1991 |
 | Rufina Vigil House | under 500 feet | 1991 |
 | Anthony Cortesy House | under 500 feet | 1991 |
 | Bursum House | under 500 feet | 1975 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 91000035 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Socorro County | All 38 listed properties in this county. |
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