Jemez Springs, New Mexico - History

History

The Jemez Valley is thought to have been inhabited for the last 4500 years. The Spaniards who visited the area beginning in 1540 reported multiple Native American pueblos (villages), in the valley. The Franciscan mission church San José de los Jemez was built just to the north of the current village in 1621 but was abandoned around the 1640s. Today the ruins are the site of Jemez State Monument. Following the Pueblo Revolt the Jemez people began converging at the current Pueblo of Jemez. In the nineteenth century the valley was given over to mostly agrarian and pastoral uses.

Jemez Springs' post office opened in 1907. The village is named for the Pueblo of Jemez twelve miles to the south.. The 1907 post office was preceded by one established in 1884 named Archuleta. The village's current main bathhouse originates from this period.

In 1942, Jemez Springs was the second choice (after Oak City, Utah) for the location of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the proposed Manhattan Project research laboratory, but Los Alamos was chosen instead.

In 1947 two Roman Catholic retreats were founded nearby, the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete and the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. The village was incorporated in 1955. Following enthusiasm from supporters of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki in 1972, the Bodhi Manda Zen Center, a Rinzai training academy, was founded.