Welcome to San Miguel County!
Photo by Henrietta Martinez Christmas
San Miguel county was originally created by the Republic of Mexico in 1844, and designated in 1852 as one of the nine original counties by the New Mexico territorial legislature. Its original name was San Miguel del Bado, which was then one of the area's oldest communities, and it became the county seat. The county seat was moved to Las Vegas in 1864.
San Miguel county's natural beauty consists of mountains and valleys, mesas and canyons, marshes and green belts...some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in the state.
- San Miguel del Bado was established through a Spanish Crown grant in 1794, and is the oldest settlement in the county.
- General Stephen Watts Kearney took possession of Las Vegas in 1846 in the name of the United States.
- In 1880, the railroad built the famous 240-room Montezuma Hot Springs Hotel. It was the first building in New Mexico to be lighted by electricity with power from its own generating plant.
- The first telephone line in New Mexico went from Las Vegas to The Plaza Hotel in 1880.
San Miguel County Coordinator: Angela Lewis
State Coordinator: Cheryl Burbank
Assistant State Coordinators: Tom Bombaci, Jr.