San Miguel

Formed January 9, 1852 (4^th county)

San Miguel County (27,203), Las Vegas (13,222)                

The white stucco facility is sited on National Street between New Mexico and Morrison avenues.  New Mexico Avenue is New Mexico State Highway 329 in this part of the town.  This Spanish Pueblo building was constructed in 1940.  Kruger and Clark were the architects.  There was another courthouse in Las Vegas, the only county seat, built in 1885.  The courthouse was renovated in 2009 and a 2006 District Court Annex supports the county.  San Miguel County was created on January 9, 1852 as an original (4^th county.)  Saint Michael is the source for the county’s name.  “The meadows” is the Spanish meaning for the county seat’s name.  San Miguel County was the birthplace for 1 New Mexico Governor, Ezequiel C. de Baca. 

San Miguel County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, a treasurer, an attorney, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Three District Court Judges serve San Miguel, Guadalupe, and Mora counties (judicial.)  The county is in northeast New Mexico directly east of Santa Fe, New Mexico and northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The county center is 27.8 miles East-Southeast of Las Vegas.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Mora, Harding, Quay, Guadalupe, Torrance, and Santa Fe counties. 

The area of the county is 4717 square miles.  It is 9 out of 33 in the state.  It ranks 16 out of 33 in population in the state.  It has a density of 5.8 persons per square mile making it 20 out of 33 in the state.  San Miguel County has 53.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 25 enters from Mora County on the north and exits into Santa Fe County on the west.  United States Highway 84 comes in from Guadalupe County on the south and joins Interstate Highway 25 to go west into Santa Fe County.  United States Highway 285 cuts the southwest corner of the county from Santa Fe to Torrance counties.  The county’s shape can be described as a hammer.  Las Vegas is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Las Vegas is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 48.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SAN MEE-GEL (hard sounding G).  The seat is pronounced LAS VAE-GUS.  This county is in the Las Vegas Micropolitan Statistical Area.