Mesilla
| Mesilla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 San Albino Basilica in Mesilla Plaza |
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| Location in New Mexico | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1848 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | New Mexico | ||
| County : | Doña Ana County | ||
| Coordinates : | 32 ° 16 ′ N , 106 ° 48 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 ) | ||
| Residents : | 1,913 (as of 2012) | ||
| Population density : | 137.6 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 13.9 km 2 (approx. 5 mi 2 ) | ||
| Height : | 1183 m | ||
| Postcodes : | 88046 | ||
| Area code : | +1 575 | ||
| FIPS : | 35-48060 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 0920645 | ||
| Website : | www.mesilla-nm.org | ||
Mesilla is a city in Doña Ana County in the state of New Mexico in the United States . The name is derived from the Spanish word for "table" (Spanish mesa ).
geography
The city is just south of Interstate 10 , which is identical to US Highway 180 in this area . The closest larger city is Las Cruces , which is directly connected to the north. The Texan city of El Paso and the Mexican border are each about 60 kilometers south. The Rio Grande flows through the western districts of the city .
history
Various Indian tribes originally lived in the area of today's Mesilla in the valley of the Rio Grande. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado came to this region in search of gold in 1540, but found no mineral resources and moved further north. After the end of the Mexican-American War , the United States' border south of the city of Dona Ana was established in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 . Citizens who did not want to belong to the American state then founded the town of Mesilla a few kilometers south of the border. There were constant conflicts with the Apaches in the region . After this escalated further, the Americans declared a narrow strip south of California , New Mexico and Arizona their own national territory. Mesilla was one of them. This action was legalized in 1853 with the Gadsden purchase . During the Civil War , Mesilla was the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona .
The city developed at times into an entertainment center with bars, dance floors and cockfights . This also attracted outlaws , such as Billy the Kid , who was sentenced to death here in 1881. Also in 1881 the Santa Fe Railway planned to build a railway line through Mesilla. The project failed due to excessive land prices and was relocated a few kilometers further north to the then much smaller town of Las Cruces, as the required land was made available there free of charge. After the railway station went into operation, Las Cruces' population and industry grew rapidly and steadily while it decreased in Mesilla.
The La Mesilla Historic District with the Mesilla Plaza was added to the list of National Historic Landmarks in 1961 .
Demographic data
In 2012 there was a population of 1913 people. Almost half of them (approx. 48.2%) were of Latin American origin, which is explained by the proximity to Mexico. The median age of the residents at the time was 49.8 years, higher than the 45.6 years of the state of New Mexico.
Individual evidence
- ↑ US Postal Service - ZIP Codes
- ^ Profile of Mesilla
- ^ History
- ↑ Billy the Kid ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ City data
