Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Genealogy

United States &gt; New Mexico &gt; Rio Arriba County

Parent County
1852--Rio Arriba County was created 9 January 1852 as an original county. County seat: Tierra Amarilla

Rio Arriba County, New Mexico was created in 1850 as an original county in the Northern district of the Territory of New Mexico. It had become a part of the United States when the Mexican War ended in 1848 with the signing of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty. Rio Arriba County shares its northern border with the Southern border of Colorado. West of Rio Arriba County is San Juan County, which connects with the states of Arizona, Utah, and Colorado and creates the “Four Corners” area. The Rio Arriba county seat is Tierra Amarilla. The headwaters of the Rio Chama River is a few miles southwest of Tierra Amarilla, which flows into the Rio Grande River near Santa Fe, the county seat of Santa Fe County.

Rio Arriba has two county seats: P.O. Box 158, Tierra Amarilla 87575 and P.O. Box 1256, Espanola 87532-1256 <ref name=Redbook American State, County, and Town Sources,3rd ed. (Provo, UT: Ancestry Publishing).

Neighboring Counties

 * Archuleta County, Colorado
 * Conejos County, Colorado
 * Los Alamos
 * Mora
 * San Juan
 * Sandoval
 * Santa Fe
 * Taos

Church
The early population of New Mexico was generally both Spanish-speaking and Catholic. As such, the sacramental records of the towns and villages present an important avenue of research and may provide the names of several generations within one document. Catholic sacramental records (baptisms, marriages, and burials) are rich in vital record information and may prove a valuable alternative in cases where vital records are not available.

The New Mexico Genealogical Society has published an online article titled, Locating Catholic Church Records in New Mexico, Rio Arriba County. This index of church records includes the parish, the location of the church, the missions included and microfilm dates and reference numbers in chart format. Some of the films are available in the Family History Library, and those that aren’t at the library have AASF reel numbers found in the Santa Fe archives. 

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog