Belen, New Mexico Belen, New Mexico Official seal of Belen, New Mexico Location of Belen, New Mexico Location of Belen, New Mexico Belen, New Mexico is positioned in the US Belen, New Mexico - Belen, New Mexico Belen (/b l n/; Spanish: Belen) is the second most crowded city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States, after its governmental center of county Los Lunas.
The town/city is geographically near the center of New Mexico and has been a momentous transportation core for central New Mexico that includes access to rail, the interstate and air at Valencia County's only enhance airport.
Belen was established in 1740 as Nuestra Senora de Belen by a group of Spanish colonists led by Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar, who received permission to settle the tract of territory known as the Belen Grant the year before. Recognizing the strategic significance of Belen, Spanish authorities established a fort in Belen to protect the settlements along the Rio Grande in 1760.
By the 1790s, Belen had established a town/city center known as Plaza Vieja, or Old Town, and had grown from a paraje, or precinct, to a partido, or district, with a populace of 1,695.
By the middle of the 19th century, Belen had outgrown Old Town and was expanding into what became known as New Town.
In 1853, the inhabitants in each part of town disagreed over the assembly of a new Catholic church, with inhabitants of Old Town wanting the new church to remain there, while inhabitants of New Town wanted it assembled in their part of town.
Valencia, north of Belen, was the governmental center of county in 1846, followed by Peralta in 1847.
Belen captured the governmental center of county from Tome 20 years later, but lost it to Tome two short years later in 1874.
In the late winter of 1862, Belen, an ally of the Union, turn into entangled in the Civil War when the town briefly fell under Confederate control after 400 Confederate soldiers marched into Belen.
Grant, established the Town of Belen.
Becker's plan laid out Belen on a grid, extending from a commercial center with two grand avenues: Becker Avenue and Dalies Avenue.
In 1907, the Belen Cutoff for the Santa Fe Railway was completed, connecting Amarillo with Belen. Prior to the Belen Cutoff, trains used the steep Raton Pass on the Colorado and New Mexico border.
Facilities at Belen encompassed a large roundhouse and a classification yard, serving also chapters southward to El Paso and northward through Albuquerque to Colorado.
Today, Belen remains a primary refueling station for BNSF Railway, where an average of 110 trains travel through Belen in a 24-hour reconstructionon the Southern Transcon.
Belen was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1918. It was originally called the "Village of Belen," later becoming the "City of Belen." The bomb's Belen route used old Highway 85, now Highway 314, also known as Main Street.
Located in downtown Belen in 1945 was Roy's Cafe, a restaurant where military and science personnel would go to grab a meal, since it had the necessary security clearance.
The waffle fries could be paired with Belen's own Hub City soda pop brewed and bottled locally by the Belen Bottling Co.
Belen is positioned at 34 39 56 N 106 46 34 W (34.665587, -106.776225). According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 4.7 square miles (12 km2), all land.
Climate data for Belen, New Mexico The Heart of Belen, as it has turn into known, is Belen's central company precinct and downtown, positioned along Becker and Dalies avenues, stretching from the BNSF rail yard to Main Street.
Downtown Belen features historic structures dating back to the early 20th century when the barns came into town.
The Belen Hotel and Central Hotel, both positioned on Becker Avenue, are two-story structures assembled to accommodate barns ers and other rail guests in the early 1900s.
Both were constructed of bricks made from the former Belen brickyard. Today, the Belen Hotel has been converted into a private residence and private art loggia, while the Central Hotel is a winery and reception hall.
Old City Hall, also positioned on Becker Avenue, is a 1938 Works Progress Administration project, which homed the former Belen City Hall and fire department. The two-story building was constructed of terron, a material similar to adobe.
The Belen Harvey House is positioned inside feet of the BNSF rail yard.
It is a two-story building opened in 1907, one year before culmination of the Belen Cutoff, to furnish room and board to barns ers and the rest passing through. The initial Belen rail depot is adjoining to the Harvey House grounds, owned by BNSF and used as office space for the barns .
Belen is governed by a mayor-council form of government, with a town/city manager.
Belen has five appointed positions: town/city manager, police chief, fire chief, treasurer and clerk.
Belen is home to a number of annual cultural affairs, including the St.
The Our Lady of Belen Fiestas, held annually in Belen amid one weekend in mid-August, is an event that has been around for more than 220 years.
Belen has the only Harvey House Museum in New Mexico.
The Santa Fe barns appeared in Belen in 1880, when Belen was just a small farming community.
This new line was the Belen cut-off, and it routed many more trains through Belen.
Shortly after the new development, Belen began to bustle.
Rail passengers who stopped in Belen needed a place to get a good meal, so in 1910, the barns assembled a Harvey House restaurant right by the barns tracks.
Inside you can find hundreds of memorabilia pertaining to the Harvey House and the Santa Fe Railway, as well as exhibits on early small-town businesses and inhabitants in Belen.
The Belen Harvey House is the official barns exhibition of the State of New Mexico and is a branch of the Belen Public Library.
Belen has nine parks and is home to the Valencia County Fairgrounds.
The Valencia County Fairgrounds is situated along the I-25 Bypass on the northside of Belen.
Eagle Park is positioned near I-25 and Belen High School.
It is Belen's multipurpose park, including a several soccer fields, baseball fields, tennis courts, and an outside basketball court.
The historic Anna Becker Park, positioned in downtown Belen and titled after the wife of Belen's most influential businessman, John Becker, was once a pond where inhabitants ice skated in the winter. The grassy park includes a sand volleyball pit, basketball court, and historic gazebo.
The Doodlebug is known in Belen for shuttling Belen inhabitants to Albuquerque amid the first part of the 20th century.
It is the site of Belen's annual ham radio operator event, as well as a fishing derby that takes place at the acequia, or irrigation canal, that runs through the park.
Other parks include El Corazon de Belen Garden Park, Jose Gallegos Park, Rosedale Park, Ross Park, and Welcome Park.
Because Belen means Bethlehem, every December the town/city unveils its Festival of Trees and Bugg Lights at the Harvey House.
Starting with the Miracle on Main Street Electric Light Parade, Belen transforms into Bethlehem.
KBNM-LP is a airways broadcast positioned in Belen.
Belen is inside the Belen Consolidated Schools district, which includes one high school, one middle school and seven elementary schools.
Belen Consolidated Schools also has an alternative high school and a family school for homeschooled students.
Belen inhabitants are serviced by the University of New Mexico Valencia Campus in Tome and the University of New Mexico's chief campus in Albuquerque.
Belen is intersected by New Mexico Highway 314 and Highway 309.
Belen has Valencia County's only enhance airport.
Belen is intersected by the rails of the BNSF Railway, which has both east-west and north-south routes through the city.
The New Mexico Rail Runner Express also has a commuter rail station at the north end of the BNSF rail yard, shuttling inhabitants and tourists to and from Belen on a daily basis and connecting with Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
New Mexico Bike Route 1 follows Reinken Avenue through Belen.
The route joins Belen with Bernardo, which is south of Belen.
Bartolome Baca, the fourth Mexican governor of the territory of New Mexico, was born in Belen Tara Calico, a small-town resident, disappeared from east of Belen on September 20, 1988 Chavez, the lieutenant governor of New Mexico from 1951 to 1955, lived at the Chavez Estate in Belen Casey Luna, the lieutenant governor of New Mexico from 1991 to 1995, is a businessman from Belen Mike Nesbitt, a former punter for the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, is from Belen In the first, Belen is referred to as Los Lunas, which is a neighboring town to the north, including a bank robbery scene in Belen showing the name "Bank of New Mexico: Los Lunas Branch." In the second, Belen is referred to as Belen when "Eagle Bank" is robbed athwart the street from the "Bank of New Mexico: Belen Branch."
In the 2008 movie Living Hell, Belen is referred to as "Bennell." In the 2008 movie Swing Vote, Belen's name is changed to "Texico." In the 2013 movie The Last Stand, Belen's name is changed to "Summerton Junction" and is set in Arizona, not New Mexico.
In the 2013 movie As Cool As I Am, Belen is the name of the small town where the movie is set, featuring Belen's water fortress with the name "Belen" on it.
In the 2014 movie Transcendence, Belen is called "Brightwood" and nicknamed "Blightwood" by locals who graffiti the town's signs.
In the 2014 movie Two Men in Town, a several locations in Belen stand in for Deming, NM.
At least two fiction novels have been written about Belen or involve Belen in their plot: Belen, New Mexico: Our Lady of Belen.
Santa Fe, New Mexico: New Mexico Department of Development.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belen, New Mexico.
City of Belen
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Cities in New Mexico - Cities in Valencia County, New Mexico - Albuquerque urbane area
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