San Antonio, New Mexico
|
|
The village of San Antonio is in Socorro County, New Mexico which is roughly in the center of the state. The entire population of the county is around 18,000; the population of San Antonio is hard to pin down because the area is somewhat ill-defined, but a reasonable estimate is several hundred.
San Antonio is nowadays partly agricultural, partly a bedroom community for Socorro and White Sands Missile Range, and has a few other aspects, such as being the gateway to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Interstate 25 runs along the west, and US 380 begins there and heads east to Carrizozo. The Rio Grande is just to the east of San Antonio, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) runs through it and has a minimal yard (not much more than a siding).
San Antonio has an elementary school, built in the WPA era. It also has a water system and a volunteer fire department; both include in their districts Luis Lopez, midway between San Antonio and Socorro, as well as Bosquecito and San Pedro, both of which are east of the Rio Grande. There is no local government other than the county itself. There is a US Post Office (Zip Code 87832).
There is only one church in San Antonio, the Roman Catholic church of the same name, which is served by the priest from San Miguel Church in Socorro. It has mass once a month in rotation with four other churches in small communities around Socorro. Saint Anthony was popular in this part of New Spain and this resulted in many communities having a San Antonio church.
San Antonio, when part of New Mexico Territory, was the birthplace of Conrad Hilton. Hilton was one of the original legislators in the newly formed State of New Mexico, and founded the Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton's name can still be seen ("C Hilton 1903") carved on the wall of what was once the schoolhouse, since then a mechanic's garage, and now a barn. The Owl Bar and Cafe, located on Highway 380, was once part of Hilton's store. Several workers from the Trinity site stopped there.