Formed February 25, 1921 (30th county)
Catron County (3,582), Reserve (294)
The red brick courthouse is in the middle of this small community. It is located at Main Street north of Apache Street. Main Street is New Mexico State Highway 435. New Mexico State Highway 12 runs through the middle of this small community. This structure was built in 1969. The Modern courthouse was designed by Kruger, Lake, and Henderson. There was a 1916 courthouse also in Reserve, the only county seat. The county was created from Socorro County on February 25, 1921 as the 30th county. United States Senator Thomas B. Catron provided the name for the county. The county seat was named for nearby national forest reserves. The San Francisco River runs through Reserve while the Middle Fork of the Gila River is just to the east in the county.
Catron County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, a treasurer, an attorney, an assessor, and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Two District Court Judges serve Catron, Sierra, Socorro, and Torrance counties (judicial.) Catron County is in the southwest part of New Mexico. The county shares its western border with Arizona. Albuquerque, New Mexico is northeast, Las Cruces, New Mexico is southeast, and Tucson, Arizona is southwest of the county. The county center is 47.2 miles Northeast of Reserve nearer Anagon. The county is surrounded clockwise by Cibola, Socorro, Sierra, and Grant counties and Arizona.
The area of the county is 6928 square miles. It is 1 out of 33 in the state. It ranks 31 out of 33 in population in the state. It has a density of 0.5 persons per square mile making it 32 out of 33 in the state. Catron County has 8.2% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 60 crosses from east (Socorro County) to west (Arizona). United States Highway 180 enters from the west, Arizona, and turns south into Grant County. The county shape is a rectangle with the southeast corner cut out. Reserve is located in the southwest quarter of the county. Reserve is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 8.2% of the county population. The county is pronounced KAT-RON.
Reserve
