Española Valley

The valley takes its name from a railroad stop. The hamlet on the west bank was La Vega de los Vigiles, for the Vigil family who settled it, until the Denver & Rio Grande's narrow-gauge line arrived from Antonito in 1880 and the stop became Española; a post office followed in 1881. Accounts of the name differ, from a shortened Plaza Española to a woman who fed the track crews. The town was the end of the line until 1886, incorporated in 1925, and outlived the Chili Line's closing in 1941.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Española Valley When it was described by Gaspar Castano de Sosa in 1591, the Española Valley contained about ten Tewa-speaking pueblos, several of which are still occupied today. Juan de Oñate established New Mexico's first colony here in 1598. Long on the northern frontier of Spanish settlement, the Valley has continuously reflected its Indian and Spanish heritage.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• El Santuario de Chimayó — 9.0 mi
  A small adobe shrine on the High Road to Taos, built around 1816 over earth that pilgrims still carry away in hope of healing.
• Fuller Lodge — 15 mi
  The upright-log dining hall of a boys' ranch school, which fed and housed the Manhattan Project after the Army bought the school in 1942.
• Bandelier National Monument — 19 mi
  Rooms carved into soft volcanic tuff in Frijoles Canyon, named for a Swiss scholar who was led there in 1880 by a man from Cochiti Pueblo.
• Palace of the Governors — 24 mi
  The long adobe on the north side of the Santa Fe plaza, called the oldest public building in continuous use in the country, though its own founding date is in dispute.

More markers nearby

• Dominguez Escalante Trail — 0.9 mi
• The Bond House — 1.7 mi
• Santa Cruz de la Cañada / Santa Cruz Plaza on the Camino Real — 2.9 mi
• Esther Martinez, P'oe Tsą́wą́ˀ (1912-2006) — 2.9 mi