Aztec Ruins National Monument

Aztec Ruins National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location San Juan County, New Mexico, US
Nearest city Aztec
Coordinates 36°50′09″N 107°59′53″W / 36.8358370°N 107.9981235°W / 36.8358370; -107.9981235Coordinates: 36°50′09″N 107°59′53″W / 36.8358370°N 107.9981235°W / 36.8358370; -107.9981235[1]
Area 318 acres (129 ha)[2]
Created January 24, 1923 (1923-Jan-24)
Visitors 41,106 (in 2011)[3]
Governing body National Park Service
Website Aztec Ruins National Monument
Part of Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Type U.S. historic district
Designated October 18, 1966
Reference no. 66000484[4]
Designated May 21, 1971
Reference no. 55

The Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves Ancestral Puebloan structures in northwestern New Mexico, United States, located close to the town of Aztec and northeast of Farmington, near the Animas River. Salmon Ruins and Heritage Park, with more Puebloan structures, lies a short distance to the south, just west of Bloomfield near the San Juan River. The buildings date to the 11th to 13th centuries, and the misnomer attributing them to the Aztec civilization can be traced back to early American settlers in the mid-19th century. The actual construction was by the Ancestral Puebloans.

The site was declared "Aztec Ruin National Monument" on January 24, 1923, and with a boundary change it was renamed "Ruins" on July 2, 1928. As a historical property of the National Park Service, the National Monument was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Aztec Ruins was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, as part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, on December 8, 1987. The site is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.[5]

A color panorama of a large sandstone ruin
Aztec West, with reconstructed great kiva (right)
Aztec West. Overview of Chacoan structure, with Hubbard Mound at lower left.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Aztec Ruins National Monument". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Listing of acreage as of December 31, 2011". Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  3. ↑ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  4. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  5. ↑ Trail of the Ancients. Archived August 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. New Mexico Tourism Department. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
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