Colfax County, New Mexico Genealogy

United States &gt; New Mexico &gt; Colfax County

Address
230 North 3rd Street

Raton, New Mexico 87740

Mailing Address:

County Clerk

P.O. Box 159

Raton, New Mexico 87740

Telephone
County Clerk: 575 - 445 - 5551

Web page or Email
County Clerk's Office

Hours
Monday - Friday

8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Closed on Holidays

History
The courthouse, built in 1936, is a five-story blond, brick building with a hipped tile roof on the top story and flat roofs on the lower portions. The building has glazed tile cornices and bas relief metal panels. The larger bas reliefs have scenes of farming, mining, and cattle ranching, which were the main industries in Colfax County. Some of the smaller motifs show the cattle brands from Colfax County. Some of the other architectural features include terrazzo floors, tile wainscoating, chipped-tile roof on the top story roof and flat roofs on lower areas.

The Colfax County Courthouse building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Birth Certificates
Birth Certificates are NOT issued at the Colfax County Clerk's Office.

They may be obtained from one of the following locations:

Local Office: New Mexico Public Health Office                                     226 East 4th Street                                      Raton, NM 87740                                      Phone: (575) 445-3601

State Office: Office of NM Vital Records and Health Statistics                                     1105 S. St. Francis Drive                                      P.O. Box 26110                                      Santa Fe, NM 87502-6110

Phone: (505) 827-0121

Credit Card Orders: 877-284-0963

Death Certificates
Death Certificates are NOT issued at the Colfax County Clerk's Office. They CANNOT copy death certificates under any circustances.

Local Office: New Mexico Public Health Office                                       226 East 4th Street                                        Raton, NM 87740                                        Phone: (575) 445-3601

State Office: Office of NM Vital Records and Health Statistics                                      1105 S. St. Francis Drive                                       P.O. Box 26110                                       Santa Fe, NM 87502-6110

Phone: (505) 827-0121

Credit Card Orders: 877-284-0963

Divorce Records
Colfax County clerk's office does NOT record divorce records.

Divorce records are kept at the DISTRICT COURT in the county where the divorce was filed.

Colfax County District Court

(575) 445-5584

Helpful Links:
Colfax County Clerk's Office

Other Court and Public Record offices of Colfax County

History
The Santa Fe Trail's Raton Pass offshoot brought settlers from the Eastern United States to join the existing Mexican and Native American populations. Colfax County was named for Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), the seventeenth Vice President of the United States. Detailed Historic and Cultural Overview.

The Colfax County War - 1875.

Parent County
'''Taos County. ''' Taos County was one of the original nine counties created by the New Mexico Territory in 1852.

Boundary Changes
Colfax County was created in January 25,1869 from Mora County which was created from Taos County in 1860. Colfax County originally covered the entire Northeast corner of the state to the Texas border. In 1893 a portion of Colfax County was taken to create Union County. That area was divided again in 1921 to create Harding County.

The original county seat was the gold mining town of Elizabethtown. In 1872 it was moved to Cimarron a stage coach stop along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail and home of the Maxwell Land Grant. In 1881, it was moved from Cimarron to Springer, a railroad town on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In 1897, after a bitter legislative fight the county seat was moved to Raton, an important coal mining town and railroad center.

Geography
According to the US Census Bureau, Colfax County has a total area of 3,768 square miles. Of which only 11 square miles of it is water. There are 84 lakes in the county. A large portion of the County lies in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Southern Rockies. The geography ranges from alpine meadows, foothills with their mining regions, aspen, pine and pinon forests, to the semi arid prairies and cattle lands of the plains.

Towns and villages
  County Seat:     Raton          

      County Population:  14,189 (2000 US Census);    2004 estimate is 13,183;  2008 estimate is 12,962

2008 Census Quickfacts

Populated Places
Abbott, Angel Fire, Banning Place, Black Lake, Black Lake Resorts, Capitan Hill, Carlsbrook, Casa Grande, Chico, Cimarron, Colmor, Dillon, Eagle Nest, Farley, French, Hebron, Idlewild, Keota, Lakeview Pines, Maxwell, McCrystal Place, McDaniel Cimarron Place, Miami, Raton, Schomberg, Shuree, Six Mile Gate, Springer, Sugarite, Sunny Side, Tinaja, Toril, Troyburg, Urraca Place, Ute Park, Val Verde Ski Area, Valdez Place.

Historic or Ghost towns
Abreu, Agua Fria, Alma, Aurora, Baldy, Bell, Blossburg, Brackett, Brilliant, Catskill, Chico, Cimarron, Clifton, Colfax, Colmor, Cottonwood, Dawson, Deep Tunnel, Dorsey, Dover, Elizabethtown, England, Farley, Gardiner, Gato, Heck, Hematite, Johnson Mesa, Kiowa, Koehler, Ladd, Loretta, Lynn, Meloche, Moreno, Osha, Otero, Palo Blanco, Perryville, Pina, Pittsburg, Ponil Park, Rael, Rayado, Robinson, Slagle, Sugarite, Southside, Stocktons, Swastika, Sweetwater, Tafoya, Taylor Springs, Therma, Trinchera, Troy, Unico, Van Houten, Vernon, Virginia City, Willow, Yankee,

Interactive Map, Town Details,

Historic Post Offices

List of Historic Places of Colfax County, National Register

Neighboring Counties

 * Costilla County, Colorado
 * Harding
 * Las Animas County, Colorado
 * Mora
 * Taos

Archives and Repositories
Local:

Seton Memorial Library
See details

State:

Center for Southwest Research
Location: University of New Mexico

Zimmerman Library

Albuquerque, New Mexico

University Libraries

Telephone: 505-277-9100

Search the collections: LIBROS online catalog

Rocky Mountain Online Archive

New Mexico Digital Collections

New Mexico State Records Center and Archives
Location: 1205 Camino Carlos Rey

Santa Fe, NM 87507

Walk-in Address: 1209 Camino Carlos Rey

Hours: Monday through Friday

10:00 AM to 4:30 PM, except holidays

Reference Assistance is available from 10 to noon and 1 PM to 4:30 PM.

Telephone: 505-476-7948; 505-476-7908

Fax: 505-476-7909

e-mail: [mailto:archives@state.nm.us archives@state.nm.us]

Search the collections: Archives page

Online Catalog

Online Archive of New Mexico

State Historian

National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 Fourth SW

Albuquerque, NM 87102

Telephone: 505-246-2261

Hours: Tuesday through Friday 10 AM to 5 PM

Saturday 8 AM to Noon

About 2,000 rolls of microfilm from the 17th through late 20th centuries.

Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico
Research Room: 4000 St. Joseph Place

Lourdes Hall Room R108

Albuquerque, NM 87120

Call 505-833-4197 for office hours

Rio Grande Historical Collections
New Mexico State University Library

MSC 3475, PO Box 30006

Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-3006

Telephone: 575-646-3839

Fax 575-646-7477

email: [mailto:archives@lib.nmsu.edu archives@lib.nmsu.edu]

Holdings include microfilm of the Archivos Historicos del Arzobispado de Durango (Historic Archives of the

Archbishop of Durango).

Browse by Cemetery Name
Click on Cemetery Name to see details.

Abbott Cemetery, Abreu Cemetery, Agua Dulce Cemetery, Black Lake Cemetery,

Caliente Canyon Cemetery, Catholic Cemetery, Catskill Cemetery, Cimarron Canyon Cemetery,

Cimarron Cemetery, Cimarron Mountain View Cemetery, Colmor Cemetery, Dawson Cemetery,

Eagle Nest Cemetery, Elizabethtown Cemetery, Espinoza Cemetery, Fairfax Cemetery, Fairmont Cemetery,

Fairview Presbyterian Cemetery, Gallagher Cemetery, Herrera Cemetery, Hollenbeck Cemetery,

J.B. Dawson Family Cemetery, Jackson Cemetery, Johnson Cemetery, Johnson Mesa Cemetery,

Kaplan Cemetery, Kelleher Cemetery, Livingston Cemetery, Maxwell Cemetery, Maxwell Family Cemetery,

Miami Cemetery, Mountain View Kiowa Cemetery, Mountainview Kiowa Cemetery, Mount Calvary Cemetery,

North Abbott Cemetery, Otero Cemetery, Palo Blanco Mountain Cemetery, Pine Buttes Cemetery,

  Point of Rocks Mesa Cemetery, Ponil Park Cemetery, Rayado Cemetery, Ring Place Cemetery, '

Saint John's Methodist Church Cemetery, Pacheco Cemetery, San Antonio Cemetery, Saus Creek Cemetery,

Seeley Cemetery, Springer Cemetery, Sweet Water Cemetery, Tinaja Cemetery, Touch Me Not Mountain Cemetery,

     United Church of Angel Fire Cemetery, Valdez Cemetery, Vermejo Cemetery, Wilson Cemetery,

Browse by Cemetery Location
Abbott, Angel Fire, Agua Dulce, Black Lake, Caliente Canyon, Cimarron, Colmor, Dawson, Eagle Nest,

Elizabethtown, Johnson Mesa, Kiowa, Loco Arroyo, Maxwell, Miami, North Abbott, Otero, Palo Blanco Mountain,

Pine Buttes, Point of Rocks Mesa, Ponil Park, Raton, Rayado, Ring Place, Sauz Creek, Seeley, Springer,

Sweet Water, Tinaja, Touch Me Not Mountain, Trinchera Pass, Ute Park.

See Details on Dawson Cemeteries, more details Town details

See Details on Johnson Mesa Cemetery

Colfax County
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920 Free Census Search

1880 US Census Free Search

1912 - Business Directory:

County Officials, Baldy, Bell, Black Lake, Blossburg, Bonito, Brackett, Brilliant, Capulin, Carlsbrook, Cerrososo. Chico, Chicorica, Cimarron, Clifton House, Colfax, Colmor, Cunningham, Dawson, Dean, Dillon, Dorsey, Elizabeth, French, Gardiner, Gato, Harlan, Hebron, Hunt, Keota, Koehler, Koehler Junction, Lloyd, Lynn, Maxwell, Meloche, Metcalf, Miami, Nash, Otero.

1930 - Federal Census Index: A-C, C-G, G-L, L-P, P-S, S-Z.

Kiowa
1920 - Partial Federal Census Record

Raton
1910 and 1920 Partial Federal Census Records

Other
New Mexico Death Records1889-1945 Search

Social Security Death Index Search

Colfax County Residents (60) who received Patents:

Go to Google Search Patents. Type in "New Mexico" "county of Colfax" OR "Colfax County"

Bureau of Land Management
General Land Office Records Search

Public Libraries
Angel Fire Community Library

Eagle Nest Public Library

Raton - Arthur Johnson Memorial Library

Springer - Fred Macaron Library

See Details

Family History Library
2136 La Mesa Drive

Raton, NM 87740

p (575) 445-0845

visits by appointment only

Seton Memorial Library
Philmont Scout Ranch

Cimarron, NM

A research library containing Ernest Thompson Seton's personal collection and an extensive collection of volumes pertaining to western lore and history of the area. You can sign up for a tour of Villa Philmonte.

Maps
1895 Colfax County Map

1895 Map of Taos, Mora, and Colfax Counties

USGS Quad Topographic Maps of Features in Colfax County

US Census Bureau mapping engine, Tiger Map

Colfax County Interactive Map of Minerals and Mines

Marriage Records
Marriage Index 1871-1900 (Grooms name Ab to Lo), (Grooms name Lo to Zw)

Military
Civil War Pension Index Card Search

List of Pensioners 1883

WWI Civilian Draft Registrations - free online

Vietnam War - Angel Fire Memorial

Eagles Nest
Elizabethtown Museum

Cimarron
Kit Carson Museum of Rayado

Philmont Museum

Villa Philmonte

Raton
Raton Museum

Springer
Dorsey Mansion

Santa Fe Trail Interpretative Center and Museum

Newspapers
Local newspaper addresses and phones: See Details

Digital Collectionsfor Colfax County Newspapers

Probate
See Details

Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail went through Colfax County

Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Santa Fe Trail Family History Project

Societies
Genealogy Trails History Group

Historical Society of New Mexico

New Mexico Civil War Ladies League

New Mexico Daughters of the American Revolution

New Mexico Genealogical Society

New Mexico Jewish Historical Society

Route 66 Association of New Mexico

Web Sites

 * NM GenWeb, Colfax County page.
 * Family History Library Catalog
 * New Mexico Random Acts of Kindness
 * Linkpendium for Colfax County
 * Worldcat, Library Booksregarding Colfax County
 * Colfax County Online Genealogy Message Boards: Cousin Connect, GenForum, Rootsweb,
 * Colfax County Newspaper Abstracts