Socorro’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Socorro. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In June 1598, Juan de Oñate led a group of Spanish settlers through the Jornada del Muerto, an inhospitable patch of desert that ends just south of the present-day city of Socorro. As the Spaniards emerged from the desert, Piro Indians of the pueblo of Teypana gave them food and water. Therefore, the Spaniards renamed this pueblo Socorro, which means "help" or "aid". Later, the name "Socorro" would be applied to the nearby Piro pueblo of Pilabó.
Nuestra Señora de Perpetuo Socorro, the first Catholic mission in the area, was probably established c. 1626. Fray Agustín de Vetancurt would later write that around 600 people lived in the area during this period. Mines in the Socorro mountains were opened by 1626.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Socorro’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Socorro’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewUS 1893 Price Bros Socorro to Del…, 1890s: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Socorro
See all 6 →
Socorro, decade by decade
1990s
18 historic places in Socorro
18 places in Socorro are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as US 1893 Price Bros Socorro to Delhi NY Cover front (1890s) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the National Register (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.