Embudo, New Mexico

Last updated

Embudo, New Mexico
Unincorporated community
USA New Mexico location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Embudo, New Mexico
Location within the state of New Mexico
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Embudo, New Mexico
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 36°12′27″N105°57′40″W / 36.20750°N 105.96111°W / 36.20750; -105.96111
Country United States
State New Mexico
County Rio Arriba
Elevation
[1]
5,824 ft (1,775 m)
Time zone UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID915823 [1]
Embudo Historic District
Embudo Station 2.jpg
Old railroad water tower at the Embudo Station
USA New Mexico location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location New Mexico State Road 68, Embudo, New Mexico
Area18 acres (7.3 ha)
Built1880 (1880)
NRHP reference No. 79001547 [2]
NMSRCP No. 485
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 12, 1979
Designated NMSRCPJanuary 20, 1977

Embudo (also Embudo Station) is an unincorporated community in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The community is within the Rio Grande Gorge and runs along both sides of the Rio Grande.near where the Embudo Creek (Rio Embudo) flows into the Rio Grande, encompassing the communities of La Bolsa and Rinconada and ending at the Taos County Line.

Contents

Etymology

The name "Embudo", meaning "funnel" in Spanish, was given to the area by early Spanish settlers because the Rio Embudo flowed through a narrow pass which reminded them of a funnel. [3]

History

Embudo was founded in 1881 when the Denver and Rio Grande railroad opened a station (depot) there on its Chili Line. The station was named after the village San Antonio de Embudo, [4] located two miles up the Embudo Creek, and until 1902 the communities shared a post office and were known jointly as Embudo. In 1900, anticipating a separate post office in the village, San Antonio de Embudo changed its name to Dixon after the Presbyterian missionary Dixon, who established a mission there. When the Dixon post office opened in 1902, however, Embudo lost its post office. Embudo got a post office again in 1905, only to lose it in 1909. In 1914, Embudo once again had its own post office, [4] zip code 87531, but the building was removed in 2016, and mailboxes were transferred to the Dixon post office.

The railroad stop was at the bottom of Barranca Hill, where the line began its steep and twisting climb out of the Rio Grande Gorge, rising 1128 ft (371m) in 7.5 miles (12.1 km) of mostly 4% gradient to Barranca. The station was scheduled as the meeting point for the north- and south-bound mixed trains, and an adjacent restaurant made a mid-day meal available for passengers. The presence of both trains also made it possible, when necessary, to use both locomotives to double-head the northbound train to the top of the Gorge. [5]

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) established the Embudo Stream Gauging Station here, to measure the flow of the Rio Grande. This was the first USGS stream gauging station and was established by John Wesley Powell in 1888. Embudo was also the first USGS training center for hydrographers. [6]

Today, from the state road a concrete bridge, replacing the old wooden bridge, crosses the Rio Grande to the "Embudo Historic District" which consists of the old railway station and associated buildings.

Embudo is on New Mexico State Road 68, beginning at Embudo Station located 2.9 miles (4.7 km) south of the intersection of New Mexico State Road 75. It was previously on U.S. Route 64 (US 64), a major national east-west highway and the main route between Santa Fe and Taos. In 1974 US 64 was realigned to end at Teec Nos Pos, Arizona rather than Santa Fe, bypassing Embudo.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Embudo, New Mexico
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ Pearce, T.M.,editor, New Mexico Place Names, A Geographical Dictionary, University of New Mexico Press 1965. ISBN   0-8263-0082-0
  4. 1 2 Julyan, Robert Hixson (1998). The place names of New Mexico (2nd ed.). Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. p. 123. ISBN   0-8263-1688-3. "Embudo" The place names of New Mexico
  5. ↑ Crossen, Forest, "Narrow Gauge to Santa Fe," Trains magazine, September 1941
  6. ↑ ""Embudo Stream-Gauging Station (Established in 1888)" New Mexico Historic Markers". Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  7. ↑ McCarten, Neala (April 20, 2016). Offbeat New Mexico: Places of Unexpected History, Art, and Culture. ISBN   978-0997332216.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.