Rio Arriba

Formed January 9, 1852 (3^rd county)

Rio Arriba County (40,359), Tierra Amarilla* (297), Espanola (10,533)

The brown stucco Spanish Classical Revival courthouse in the middle of this small community is perfect for the surrounding environment.  The facility is at the intersection of New Mexico State Highways 531 and 162 in this small town.  The courthouse was built in 1916 using the designs of Isaac Hamilton Rapp.  An Administrative Complex has been added in 2000.  The county was organized on January 9, 1852 as an original county (3^rd county.)  Los Luceros (1852), Plaza de Alcade (1860), and Tierra Amarilla (1880) have all been the county seat.  The county was named for the region of the upper Rio Grande.  The county seat’s name is Spanish for “yellow ground”. 

Rio Arriba County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, a treasurer, an attorney, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Seven District Court Judges serve Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe counties (judicial.)  The county is located in north central New Mexico on the border with Colorado.  Santa Fe, New Mexico is directly south and Pueblo, Colorado is northeast of the county.  The Rio Grande flows through the eastern part of the county.  The county center is 14.9 miles Southwest of Tierra Amarilla nearer El Vado.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Colorado and Taos, Mora, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Sandoval, and San Juan counties.

The area of the county is 5858 square miles.  It is 5 out of 33 in the state.  It ranks 13 out of 33 in population in the state.  It has a density of 6.9 persons per square mile making it 18 out of 33 in the state.  Rio Arriba County has 20.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 64 enters from the east, Taos County, and exits to the west, San Juan
County.  United States Highway 84 comes from Colorado on the north and continues south into Santa Fe County.  United States Highway 285 crosses north to south from Colorado to Santa Fe County on the east side of the county.  United States Highway 550 crosses the southwest tip of the county from San Juan County, west, to Sandoval County, south.  This mountainous county is a rectangle except for the southern border which has step downs from west to east.  Tierra Amarilla is in the northeast quarter of the county.  Espanola is on the southern border and extends into Santa Fe County.  Tierra Amarilla is the county seat and Espanola is the largest city.  Tierra Amarilla is 0.7% of the county population although it is unincorporated.  Espanola is 26.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced REE-O A-REE-BA.  The county seat is pronounced TEE-ERR-A A-MA-REE-YA.  This county is in the Espanola Micropolitan Statistical Area.