Luna County, New Mexico Genealogy

United States New Mexico  Luna County

Guide to Luna County, New Mexico ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.



County Courthouse
Luna County Courthouse PO Box 1838; Deming, NM 88031-1838 Phone: 505.546.0491 County Clerk has marriage, death, land, probate and military records from 1901, Deming newspapers from 1901.

Parent County

 * Up until 1821 - New Spain controlled land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of early settlers may have been sent to an archives in Seville, Spain, or to archives in Mexico City.
 * From 1821 until 1846 - Mexico had jurisdiction over the land that later would become New Mexico and Arizona. Some records of this period may have been sent to archives in Mexico City. Starting in 1846 United States forces occupied New Mexico during the.
 * 1848 - Land that became the northern quarter of Luna County formally became a part of the United States when the Mexican-American War ended with ratification of the.
 * 1855 - The  of Mexican land was added to Doña Ana County, New Mexico, part of which later became the southern part of Luna County.


 * 1901--Luna County was created 16 March 1901 from Doña Ana and Grant counties.

Description
The County is situated in southwest New Mexico and the County seat is located in the City of Deming. Luna County is a transportation hub with three railroads, an Interstate Highway and an airport with a 6,626 foot long asphalt-surfaced runway. Luna County is within the northern reach of the Chihuahua Desert. The famous old-West Butterfield Stage Line ran through Luna County. Luna County is the site of the historic completion of the second transcontinental railroad across the United States. The ceremonial silver spike joining the east-bound construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad with the west-bound construction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was driven in Deming on March 9, 1881.

Luna County has a population of 25,095 and shares a 54-mile border with the Republic of Mexico.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating New Mexico County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation New Mexico County Boundary Maps" (1845-1981) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of New Mexico - shows boundary changes for New Mexico Counties
 * New Mexico Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

City

 * Deming (county seat)

Village

 * Columbus

Census-designated places

 * City of the Sun
 * Keeler Farm
 * La Hacienda
 * Mountain View
 * Pecan Park
 * Pulpotio Bareas
 * Sunshine
 * Ventura

Ghost towns

 * Gage
 * Mowry City
 * Myndus
 * Nutt
 * Ojo de Vaca Station

Neighboring Counties

 * Dona Ana
 * Grant
 * Hidalgo
 * Sierra

Cemeteries

 * New Mexico Cemetery Records
 * AHGP New Mexico Cemetery Transcription & Photo Project
 * New Mexico Cemetery Records, Luna to Valencia
 * New Mexico Cemetery Record Information Online
 * New Mexico Tombstone Transcription Project
 * New Mexico Cemeteries Project
 * New Mexico Vital Record Information: Cemeteries
 * Online New Mexico Death Records and Indexes
 * Cemeteries of New Mexico
 * BillionGraves.com - Provides photos and GPS locations of grave markers.
 * Cyndi's List - Cemeteries &amp; funeral homes
 * Findagrave.com
 * Interment.net
 * Rootsweb
 * UsGenweb.org

State Census Records

 * 1885 New Mexico Territorial Census 1885 at Ancestry (free)
 * Late 1800s 1800s Arizona and New Mexico Territories Census, Late 1800s ($)

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for New Mexico starting in 1850. For links to Federal census indexes, see New Mexico Census.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Columbus

Land
Online Land Records
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Maps

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of New Mexico - shows boundary changes for New Mexico Counties
 * NMGenWeb - historical maps

Revolutionary War

 * 1775 - 1783 - at FamilySearch - images only
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War I

 * 1917 - 1919 - New Mexico, World War I Records, 1917-1919 at Ancestry ($)
 * For more natiowide World War I databases, see US Military OnlineGenealogy Records.''

World War II

 * 1941 - 1945 - World War II Records, 1941-1945 State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel from: New Mexico
 * 1941 - 1945 - World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from: New Mexico
 * 1941 - 1945 - New Mexico, World War II Records, 1941-1945 at Ancestry ($)
 * For more nationwide World War II databases, see US Military Online Genealogy.

Newspapers

 * New Mexico Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1801 – 1993 New Mexico Wills and Probate Records 1801-1993 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1726 – 1918 at FamilySearch

Deaths

 * 1788 – 1798; 1838 – 1955 at FamilySearch
 * 1889 - 1945 at FamilySearch

Marriages

 * 1727 - 1900 New Mexico Marriages 1727-1900 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1751 - 1918 at FamilySearch

Family History Centers

 * Deming New Mexico Family History Center 1000 W Florida St Deming NM 88030 United States Location Map


 * Luna New Mexico Family History Center East Main St Luna NM 87824 United States Location Map

Web Sites

 * Luna County, NM History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * New Mexico Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * New Mexico Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.