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51-464: San Marcial was a community in Socorro County , New Mexico , United States, founded in 1854 and survivor of two floods and a fire, but is now a ghost town , a deserted site with little left of the original town, destroyed in a great flood in 1929. San Marcial was approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Socorro . San Marcial was founded circa 1854 by Pascual Joyla, who built a house on

102-517: A decade-long upgrade project resulted in the VLA expanding its technical capacities by factors of up to 8,000. The 1970s-era electronics were replaced with state-of-the-art equipment. To reflect this increased capacity, VLA officials asked for input from both the scientific community and the public in coming up with a new name for the array, and in January 2012 it was announced that the array would be renamed

153-433: A female householder with no husband present, 38.% were non-families, and 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.09. The median age was 36.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 33,284 and the median income for a family was $ 41,964. Males had a median income of $ 40,295 versus $ 27,819 for females. The per capita income for

204-496: A margin of just 38 votes (2,988 votes to 2,950 respectively). It was the only county in the state to flip Republican that year, even as Grisham handedly won re-election statewide. With multiple mountain ranges, extents of grasslands and marshes providing a wide array of available habitats, Socorro County is home to an extensive variety of ecosystems and wildlife. Socorro County contains 826 species of wildlife, including 14 amphibians, 60 reptiles, 336 birds, and 96 mammals. Wildlife in

255-472: A total loss. From San Acacia to Lemitar, the water was spread out on both sides of the railroad three miles from bank to bank. With women and children safely out of town, men at San Marcial were fighting in the midst of crumbling structures in a last desperate effort to save their town from total destruction. Some residents tried to rebuild after the August 13 flood, but a second flood on September 23 put an end

306-450: A wye (or Y) -configuration, (each of which measures 21 kilometres (13 mi) long). Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms—and that, at one point, intersect with U.S. Route 60 at a level crossing—and a specially designed lifting locomotive ("Hein's Trein"), the antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared positions, allowing aperture synthesis interferometry with up to 351 independent baselines: in essence,

357-415: Is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico . As of the 2020 census , the population was 16,595. The county seat is Socorro . The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties of New Mexico Territory . Socorro was originally the name given to a Native American village ( see : Puebloan peoples ) by Don Juan de Oñate in 1598. Having received vitally needed food and assistance from

408-488: Is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc . The radio telescope comprises 27 independent antennas in use at a given time plus one spare, each of which has a dish diameter of 25 meters (82 feet) and weighs 209 metric tons (230 short tons ). The antennas are distributed along the three arms of a track, shaped in

459-684: Is the second-largest county in New Mexico by area, after Catron County . Socorro County ranges in elevation from approximately 4,528 ft (1,380 m) on the banks of the Rio Grande to 10,784 ft (3,287 m) at the top of South Baldy peak in the Magdalena Mountains . The southern portion of the Rocky Mountains extend into New Mexico and Socorro County. There are several mountain ranges that spread throughout

510-880: The Cibola National Forest , the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge , the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge , the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Socorro Field Office, parts of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument , and parts of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail . Socorro County's history is intimately linked with the rich history of the surrounding area. Basham noted in his report documenting

561-656: The NRAO VLA Sky Survey and Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters . In September 2017 the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) began. This survey will cover the entire sky visible to the VLA (80% of the Earth's sky) in three full scans. Astronomers expect to find about 10 million new objects with the survey — four times more than what is presently known. The driving force for the development of

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612-530: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory announced that they will be replacing the ageing antennae with 160 new ones at the site, plus 100 auxiliary antennae located across North America. The project, estimated to cost about $ 2 billion to build and around $ 90 million to run, will vastly expand the capabilities of the current installation and increase the frequency sensitivity from 50 GHz to over 100 GHz. The facility will be renamed

663-617: The Socorro Chieftain of 17 August 1929: Flooded Rio Grande Devastates Entire Towns; People Escape in Night Clothes – The first disaster occurring at 2:00 o'clock Tuesday morning (Aug. 13) when the highway bridge at San Acacia gave way sending a five foot flood through the town, giving many only time to escape to the foot hills to the west in their night clothes. Orchards, alfalfa fields with other valley crops in this district as well as at Polvadero and Lemitar are reported

714-680: The hydrogen gas that constitutes a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy as well as external galaxies. In 1989 the VLA was used to receive radio communications from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew by Neptune . A search of the galaxies M31 and M32 was conducted in December 2014 through January 2015 with the intent of quickly searching trillions of systems for extremely powerful signals from advanced civilizations. It has been used to carry out several large surveys of radio sources, including

765-512: The " Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array". On March 31, 2012, the VLA was officially renamed in a ceremony inside the Antenna Assembly Building. The VLA is a multi-purpose instrument designed to allow investigations of many astronomical objects, including radio galaxies , quasars , pulsars , supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts , radio-emitting stars , the sun and planets , astrophysical masers , black holes , and

816-410: The " Next Generation Very Large Array ". The VLA is located between the towns of Magdalena and Datil , about 50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico . U.S. Route 60 passes east–west through the complex. The VLA site is open to visitors with paid admission. A visitor center houses a small museum, theater, and a gift shop. A self-guided walking tour is available, as the visitor center

867-638: The Apache Kid Wilderness. Stories of depredations by the Apache Kid, and of his demise, became so common and dramatic that in southwestern folklore they may be exceeded only by tales of lost Spanish gold. Native Americans lingered in the San Mateos well into the 1900s. We know this by an essay written by Aldo Leopold in 1919 where he documents stumbling upon the remains of a recently abandoned Indian hunting camp. A mining rush followed

918-506: The Apache wars – gold, silver, and copper were found in the mountains. It wasn't until this time that extensive use of the area by non-Native Americans occurred. While some mining activity, involving gold, silver, and copper, occurred in the southern part of the range near the end of the nineteenth century, the prospecting/mining remnants are barely visible today due to collapse, topographic screening, and vegetation regrowth. While miners combed

969-470: The Beefsteak Trail. The trail began use in 1865 and its peak was in 1919. The trail was used continually until trailing gave way to trucking and the trail officially closed in 1971. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 6,649 square miles (17,220 km ), of which 6,647 square miles (17,220 km ) is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km ) (0.03%) is water. It

1020-558: The Cibola National Forest's Magdalena Ranger District. The Bosque del Apache Wilderness comprises two separate sections, totaling 30,427 acres of the National Wildlife Refuge. There are an additional 172,143 acres of Forest Service Inventoried Roadless Areas and 159,891 acres of BLM Wilderness Study Areas in the county. These undeveloped lands without roads offer outstanding opportunities to experience

1071-671: The County includes coyote , deer , elk , pronghorn antelope , bighorn sheep , Barbary sheep , black bear , mountain lion , wild turkey , various furbearers , Mexican spotted owl , and quail . There are three congressionally designated Wilderness areas located within Socorro County. The Apache Kid and the Withington Wilderness Areas are both located in the San Mateo Mountains within

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1122-627: The U.S. House in both 2008 and 2010 (with 50.2% and 63% Democratic, respectively). The County supported Governor Martinez (R) 53 percent to 47 percent in 2010 but went for Governor Richardson (D) in both 2002 and 2006. Socorro has supported Democratic state senators in Districts 28 and 30 for every election since 2000. In contrast, the county has supported a Republican state representative in District 49 since 2000. The current county commissioners of Socorro County are: Ravi Bhasker has been serving as

1173-663: The VLA is located on the campus of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico . The DSOC also serves as the control center for the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a VLBI array of ten 25-meter dishes located from Hawaii in the west to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the east that constitutes the world's largest dedicated, full-time astronomical instrument. In 2011,

1224-535: The VLA was David S. Heeschen . He is noted as having "sustained and guided the development of the best radio astronomy observatory in the world for sixteen years." Congressional approval for the VLA project was given in August 1972, and construction began some six months later. The first antenna was put into place in September 1975 and the complex was formally inaugurated in 1980, after a total investment of US$ 78,500,000 (equivalent to $ 290,000,000 in 2023). It

1275-422: The age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.20. In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.4% under

1326-464: The age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 23,439, and the median income for a family was $ 29,544. Males had a median income of $ 28,490 versus $ 22,482 for females. The per capita income for

1377-428: The antennas are moved every three to four months. Moves to smaller configurations are done in two stages, first shortening the east and west arms and later shortening the north arm. This allows for a short period of improved imaging of extremely northerly or southerly sources. The frequency coverage is 74 MHz to 50 GHz (400 cm to 0.7 cm). The Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center (DSOC) for

1428-459: The archeological history of the Cibola National Forest's Magdalena Ranger District, which is almost entirely within Socorro County, that “[t]he heritage resources on the district are diverse and representative of nearly every prominent human evolutionary event known to anthropology. Evidence for human use of district lands date back 14,000 years to the Paleoindian period providing glimpses into

1479-528: The area's amazing natural heritage, to getaway and enjoy the outdoors and, for the hearty, to explore deep into the backcountry and challenge yourself in the area's big wild. The high mountains, remote canyons, pristine forests and diverse wildlife found on the area's national forests, national wildlife refuges, national monuments, and BLM's national system of public lands provide for phenomenal recreation opportunities, including picnicking, hiking, backpacking, wildlife viewing, horseback-riding, and hunting. In fact,

1530-448: The array acts as a single antenna with a variable diameter. The angular resolution that can be reached is between 0.2 and 0.04 arcseconds . There are four commonly used configurations, designated A (the largest) through D (the tightest, when all the dishes are within 600 metres (2,000 ft) of the center point). The observatory normally cycles through all the various possible configurations (including several hybrids) every 16 months;

1581-555: The arrival of sandhill cranes and other migratory birds. Rare whooping cranes are also found occasionally on the Bosque del Apache. The natural amenities in Socorro contribute to a strong tourism industry for the county. Visitors spent $ 47.4 million in Socorro County in 2011. Recreation alone accounted for more than $ 4 million in visitor spending in both 2010 and 2011. Tourism accounts for 8.8% of employment and 4.5% of labor income for

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1632-489: The county was $ 12,826. About 24.1% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 43.6% of those under age 18 and 24.3% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 census , there were 17,866 people, 7,014 households, and 4,349 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.7 inhabitants per square mile (1.0/km ). There were 8,059 housing units at an average density of 1.2 per square mile (0.46/km ). The racial makeup of

1683-495: The county was $ 17,801. About 22.7% of families and 26.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 19.0% of those age 65 or over. Like much of New Mexico, Socorro County has leaned toward the Democratic Party in many recent elections, though in the past it leaned Republican . The majority (51 percent) of voters registered in the 2012 General Election were Democrats, with

1734-452: The county was 75.1% white, 11.7% American Indian, 1.2% Asian, 1.1% black or African American, 8.1% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 48.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 7.1% were English , 6.8% were German , and 4.2% were American . Of the 7,014 households, 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 12.9% had

1785-443: The county. Additionally, tourism resulted in $ 7.7 million of total tax revenue, including $ 1.1 million in local tax revenue. School districts include: 34°01′N 106°56′W  /  34.02°N 106.93°W  / 34.02; -106.93 Very Large Array The VLA stands at an elevation of 6,970 feet (2,120 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO

1836-518: The county. The population density was 3 people per square mile (1.2 people/km ). There were 7,808 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0.39/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 62.9% White , 0.6% Black or African American , 10.9% Native American , 1.1% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 20.1% from other races , and 4.3% from two or more races. 48.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,675 households, out of which 33.8% had children under

1887-472: The county. The Forest Service manages portions of four mountain ranges: the Bear , Datil , Magdalena , and San Mateo Mountains . Most of the land that comprises these mountains are within the Cibola National Forest. These ranges, as well as Ladron Peak located in Socorro County, are classified as sky islands . As of the 2000 census , there were 18,078 people, 6,675 households, and 4,492 families residing in

1938-466: The east side of the Rio Grande and began selling produce and firewood in Fort Conrad , to the north. A small community grew up around Joyla's house, taking its name from the third century Frenchman, Saint Martial of Limoges . A flood wiped out the village in 1866, and the people relocated to the other side of the river. In July 1881, a fire almost completely destroyed the new community. The town

1989-594: The flight (N60NA) experienced an uncontained engine failure , causing cabin decompression . In 1997 the VLA featured in Contact , the film adaptation of the book by the same name written by Carl Sagan . With a view to upgrading the venerable 1970s technology with which the VLA was built, the VLA has evolved into the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The upgrade has enhanced the instrument's sensitivity, frequency range, and resolution with

2040-581: The four biggest elk in New Mexico were bagged in Socorro county and the Datil Mountains . The two most popular recreational activities on the Cibola National Forest are hiking/walking and viewing natural features with 35% and 15% of visitors citing these as their main activities, respectively. The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge hosts the Festival of the Cranes every November, celebrating

2091-505: The installation of new hardware at the San Agustin site. A second phase of this upgrade may add up to eight additional antennae in other parts of the state of New Mexico , up to 190 miles (300 km) away, if funded. Magdalena Ridge Observatory is a new observatory a few miles south of the VLA, and is run by VLA collaborator New Mexico Tech . Under construction at this site is a ten-element optical interferometer . In June 2023,

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2142-504: The mayor of Socorro since 1990 and is a general practice medical doctor. The current mayor of Magdalena is Richard Rumpf (ZW), elected by the village board upon the previous mayor's resignation in 2016. Socorro County backed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2018 by 57.4%, defeating Republican Steve Pearce by nearly 15 points in the county. However, in 2022 , Republicans rebounded considerably and Grisham lost Socorro county to Republican Mark Ronchetti , by

2193-598: The mountains for mineral riches during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, stockmen drove tens of thousands of sheep and cattle to stockyards at the village of Magdalena, then linked by rail with Socorro. In fact, the last regularly used cattle trail in the United States stretched 125 miles westward from Magdalena. The route was formally known as the Magdalena Livestock Driveway, but more popularly known to cowboys and cattlemen as

2244-641: The native population, Oñate named the pueblo Socorro ("succor" in English). Socorro County is home to multiple scientific research institutions including New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology , the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and its associated Very Large Array , the Magdalena Ridge Observatory , and the Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research . Federal public lands in Socorro County include parts of

2295-770: The peopling of the New World and megafaunal extinction .“ Much of the now Magdalena Ranger District were a province of the Apache . Bands of Apache effectively controlled the Magdalena-Datil region from the seventeenth century until they were defeated in the Apache Wars in the late nineteenth century. Outlaw renegades Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and notorious Apaches like Cochise and Geronimo have ties to Socorro County's San Mateo Mountains. Vicks Peak

2346-597: The rest of registered voters breaking down as 30 percent Republican, 15 percent Declined To Say, and 3 percent Other. In 2012, Socorro County voted for President Obama 56 percent to 38 percent, with a trend of voting Democratic from 1992 through 2020. In 2024, Donald Trump carried the county with a narrow majority, the first time a Republican presidential candidate had done this since Bush in 1988. Socorro County voted for Senator Heinrich (D) 53 percent to 43 percent in 2012. While Rep. Pearce (R) won Socorro County 52 percent to 48 percent in 2012, Socorro supported Democrats for

2397-717: The town. The main employer, the Santa Fe Railroad , had enough and pulled out. Without the trains and the Harvey House , there was no reason for anyone to stay, although as late as the 1930 census a few people lingered on. Today, a cemetery remains the only obvious sign of the former settlement, although parts of the Santa Fe Railroad's roundhouse can still be found if one knows where to look. Citations Sources Socorro County, New Mexico Socorro County ( Spanish : Condado de Socorro )

2448-487: The villages to the south of the community were ordered to evacuate, since they would be flooded by the Elephant Butte Reservoir . Many of them moved to San Marcial or to Val Verde . In 1920, a flood caused great destruction in the region, leaving many homeless. After this, much work was spent on flood defenses. On 13 August 1929, following heavy rain, there was a massive flood in the area. According to

2499-466: Was named after Victorio , “a Mimbreño Apache leader whose territory included much of the south and southwest New Mexico.” Famous for defying relocation orders in 1879 and leading his warriors “on a two-year reign of terror before he was killed,” Victorio is at least as highly regarded as Geronimo or Cochise among Apaches. Perhaps most famous outlaw was the Apache Kid whose supposed grave lies within

2550-493: Was rebuilt, and became a center for the surrounding irrigated farms, When the railway passed through the area in the 1880s, a new community initially called "New San Marcial" developed near the railway station to the west. This later obtained the Post Office name of San Marcial. Between 1890 and 1920, San Marcial was the second largest town in Socorro County. San Marcial attained a population of about 1,400 by 1929. In 1917,

2601-470: Was the largest configuration of radio telescopes in the world. During construction in 1975, workers laying the tracks for the northern arm of the array discovered a human skeleton north of US-60 . A year later, the remains were identified as belonging to a male airline passenger who was ejected from National Airlines Flight 27 at 39,000 feet (12,000 m) two years earlier, after the DC-10-10 servicing

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