Luis Lopez, New Mexico

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Luis Lopez, New Mexico is an unincorporated community between Socorro and San Antonio in New Mexico.

[edit] History

In 1667 Captain Luis Lopez was alcalde mayor (mayor) of the Piro Pueblo of Senecú. It appears that he had an hacienda on the east bank of the Rio Grande. During the 18th century the estancia was mentioned in the journals of a few travelers though it had been abandoned after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The village of Luis Lopez appears to have been founded in the mid to late 1830s. At that time it was located on the west bank of the Rio Grande just east of its present day site.^[1]

Luis Lopez has been listed in United States census every decade since 1850, except for 1870. Since the village was not counted in that year, it is thought that it may have been abandoned for a short time and then relocated to its present position above the flood plain.^[2]

Today, the village of Luis Lopez consists of farms and a small suburb. New wells have brought growth to the community. The present population is estimated at 128. The village is a suburb of Socorro, New Mexico.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Marshall, Michael P. and Walt, Henry J. Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province, (Santa Fe: New Mexico Historic Preservation Program, 1984) pp. 277-278)
^ Ibid