Jemez Springs, New Mexico
Encyclopedia
Sandoval County, New Mexico
-Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of any county in the United States -Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 375 at the 2000 census. Named for the nearby Pueblo of Jemez, the village is the site of Jemez State Monument
Jemez State Monument
The Jemez State Monument is a protected area in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States, in the village of Jemez Springs. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
and the headquarters of the Jemez Ranger District. The village and nearby locations in the Jemez Valley are the site of hot springs and several religious retreats.
Geography
Situated in the Jemez MountainsJemez Mountains
The Jemez Mountains are a volcanic group of mountains in New Mexico, United States. The highest point in the range is Chicoma Mountain at an elevation of 11,561 feet . The town of Los Alamos and Los Alamos National Laboratory adjoin the eastern side of the range while the town of Jemez Springs...
, Jemez Springs is located entirely within the Santa Fe National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest
The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers 1,567,181 acres . Elevations range from 5,300 feet to 13,103 feet at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness...
. The village is sited on the Jemez River
Jemez River
The Jemez River is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The river is formed by the confluence of the East Fork Jemez River and San Antonio Creek, which drain a number of tributaries in the area of the Jemez Mountains and Santa Fe National Forest. The Jemez River is about ...
in the red rock
Red Rock
-Places:Australia*Red Rock Reserve, a maar crater complex near Colac in Victoria, Australia*Red Rock, New South Wales, a small town near Grafton, New South Wales, AustraliaCanada*Red Rock, Ontario, a township in Ontario, Canada...
San Diego Canyon. State Highway 4 passes through the settlement on the east bank of the Rio Grande tributary. Geothermal springs in and near the village feed the Jemez River. The village has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.4 km²), all of it land.
History
The Jemez Valley is thought to have been inhabited for the last 4500 years. The Spaniards who visited the area beginning in 1540 reported multiple Native American puebloPueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
s (villages), in the valley. The Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
mission church San José de los Jemez
Jemez State Monument
The Jemez State Monument is a protected area in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States, in the village of Jemez Springs. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
was built just to the north of the current village in 1621 but was abandoned around the 1640s. Today the ruins are the site of Jemez State Monument
Jemez State Monument
The Jemez State Monument is a protected area in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States, in the village of Jemez Springs. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....
. Following the Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
the Jemez people began converging at the current Pueblo of Jemez. In the nineteenth century the valley was given over to mostly agrarian and pastoral uses.
Jemez Springs' post office opened in 1907. The village is named for the Pueblo of Jemez twelve miles to the south.. The 1907 post office was preceded by one established in 1884 named Archuleta. The village's current main bathhouse
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
originates from this period.
In 1942, Jemez Springs was the second choice (after Oak City, Utah
Oak City, Utah
Oak City is a town in Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 650 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oak City is located at ....
) for the location of the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
, the proposed Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
research laboratory, but Los Alamos
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
was chosen instead.
In 1947 two Roman Catholic retreats were founded nearby, the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete
Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete
The Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete is a Latin Rite, Catholic religious congregation of men dedicated to ministry to priests and Brothers with personal difficulties. The congregation was founded in 1947 by Father Gerald Fitzgerald in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. The order has...
and the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. The village was incorporated in 1955. Following enthusiasm from supporters of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki
Kyozan Joshu Sasaki
Kyozan Joshu Sasaki , Roshi is a Japanese Rinzai Zen teacher who has lived in the United States since 1962. Joshu Sasaki is the founder and head abbot of the Mount Baldy Zen Center, near Mount Baldy in California, and of the Rinzai-Ji order of affiliated Zen centers. As of , he is still actively...
in 1972, the Bodhi Manda Zen Center
Bodhi Manda Zen Center
The Bodhi Manda Zen Center, founded in 1973, is a Myoshin-ji Rinzai Zen Buddhist center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, in the United States. It was once part of a Catholic monastery, but has been converted to suit Buddhist monastic practices....
, a Rinzai training academy, was founded.
Demographics
Jemez Springs is in the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical AreaAlbuquerque metropolitan area
The Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in central New Mexico centered on the city of Albuquerque that covers four counties - Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 729,649...
. As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 375 people, 113 households, and 82 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 78.1 people per square mile (30.2/km²). There were 149 housing units at an average density of 31.0 per square mile (12.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 78.40% White, 2.40% Native American, 1.87% Asian, 12.80% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 4.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27.47% of the population.
There were 113 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 32.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 72.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 68.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $36,818, and the median income for a family was $36,042. Males had a median income of $36,964 versus $4,960 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $19,522. About 13.5% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Education
Jemez Valley Public SchoolsJemez Valley Public Schools
Jemez Valley Public Schools is a school district based in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, USA. Jemez Valley Public Schools serves the area of Jemez Springs and the neighboring communities of Jemez Pueblo, and San Ysidro with a total area of in central Sandoval County. The school district has a total...
serves the village of Jemez Springs as well as the surrounding Jemez Mountain
Jemez Mountains
The Jemez Mountains are a volcanic group of mountains in New Mexico, United States. The highest point in the range is Chicoma Mountain at an elevation of 11,561 feet . The town of Los Alamos and Los Alamos National Laboratory adjoin the eastern side of the range while the town of Jemez Springs...
Region.
Notable residents
- Gerald FitzgeraldGerald Fitzgerald (priest)Gerald Michael Cushing Fitzgerald was an American Roman Catholic priest, who began his ministry as a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and later became a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross...
, Roman Catholic priest, and founder of the religious order The Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete lived in Jemez Springs. - N. Scott MomadayN. Scott MomadayNavarre Scott Momaday is a Kiowa-Cherokee Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.-Background:...
has a retirement home here.