Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Rio Arriba County Courthouse PO Box 158; Tierra Amarilla, NM 87575 Phone: 505.588.7254 County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1852

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.
 * 22 September 1846 - Rio Arriba County was created based on an old Mexican government partido  as one of seven original New Mexico counties under General 's  of laws for the occupied Mexican territory.

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

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 reel numbers found in the Santa Fe archives. 

Boundary Changes

 * 9 January 1852 - All New Mexico counties were redefined. Rio Arriba county was extended west to the California border including land in present day Arizona and Nevada.   There is a small chance that a few records from 1846 to 1963 in what is now Arizona may  have been sent to courthouses in their respective New Mexico counties.
 * 29 December 1863 Arizona's three judicial districts were established by the Arizona Territory Organic Act  from the western half of New Mexico Territory. All previous counties were dissolved, and eventually four new counties were created in the new Arizona Territory.

Neighboring Counties

 * Archuleta County, Coloradofck
 * Conejos County, Coloradofck
 * Los Alamosfck
 * Morafck
 * San Juanfck
 * Sandovalfck
 * Santa Fefck
 * Taosfck

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Espanola New Mexico Family History Center
 * Espanola, New Mexico.

Web Sites

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