Formed February 26, 1891 (16th county)
Guadalupe County (4,451), Santa Rosa (2,858)
The Modern masonry courthouse was built in 1946 onto the old courthouse. The courthouse is on a square at Parker Avenue, 4th Street, Corona Avenue, and 5th Street. Parker Avenue is United States Highway 54 in the city. Kruger & Clark provided the designs to the new courthouse. There was a 1907 courthouse also in Santa Rosa and an 1891 structure in Puerto de Luna. Veteran memorials and a fountain are on the grounds. The county was formed on February 26, 1891 from San Miguel County as the 16th county. The county’s name comes from Saint Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The county seat got its name from the Feast of Santa Rosa de Lima.
Guadalupe County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, a treasurer, an attorney, an assessor, and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Three District Court Judges serve Guadalupe, Mora, and San Miguel counties (judicial.) East central New Mexico is the location for this county. Albuquerque, New Mexico is west and Santa Fe, New Mexico is to the northwest. The county center is 13 miles Southwest of Santa Rosa. The county is surrounded clockwise by San Miguel, Quay, De Baca, Lincoln, and Torrance counties.
The area of the county is 3031 square miles. It is 21 out of 33 in the state. It ranks 27 out of 33 in population in the state. It has a density of 1.5 persons per square mile making it 28 out of 33 in the state. Guadalupe County has 70.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 40 crosses from east to west from Quay County to Torrance County. United States Highway 54 enters with Interstate Highway 40 from Quay County, splits at Santa Rosa, and exits to the southwest to Torrance County. United States Highway 60 cuts the extreme southwest corner east to west from De Baca County to Torrance County. United States Highway 84 diagonals from the northwest, San Miguel County, to the southeast, De Baca County. United States Highway 285 is joined with United States Highway 60 from the southwest, Torrance County, splits and heads south into Lincoln County. The county’s shape is similar to a capital letter P. Santa Rosa is sited in the northern half of the county. Santa Rosa is the county seat and the largest city. It is 64.2% of the county population. The county is pronounced GWAD-A-LUE-PAE. The county seat is pronounced SAN-TA ROE-SA.
Santa Rosa
Vaughn
