Valencia

The village gave its name to the county, and for thirty years it could not keep the courthouse. Valencia was the seat in 1846, lost it to Peralta in 1847, won it back in 1849, and lost it to Tomé in 1852, the year the territorial county was created as one of the original nine. Belén took the seat in 1872, Tomé reclaimed it in 1874 while building a fine new courthouse, and in 1875, reflecting the growing power of Solomon Luna, it went to Los Lunas, where it has stayed.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Valencia This community traces its beginnings to the hacienda established by Captain Francisco Valencia along this section of the Camino Real by the mid-17th century. Abandoned during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the area was resettled in 1740 by Christian Indians called genizaros. These settlers played an important role in the defense of the Spanish frontier.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroglyph National Monument — 23 mi
  Some 24,000 images pecked into the dark basalt of Albuquerque's West Mesa, protected in 1990 and then crossed by a city boulevard.
• Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument — 27 mi
  Three Spanish mission churches raised over Tiwa and Tompiro pueblos east of the Manzano Mountains in the 1600s, each of its own stone, and one never finished.

More markers nearby

• Peralta — 2.0 mi
• Nina Otero-Warren (1881-1965) — 2.2 mi
• Vásquez de Coronado's Route — 3.9 mi
• Tomé — 5.0 mi