Aztec Ruins National Monument

Aztec Ruins National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location	San Juan County, New Mexico, US
Nearest city	Aztec
Coordinates	36°50′09″N 107°59′53″W / 36.835837°N 107.9981235°WCoordinates: 36°50′09″N 107°59′53″W / 36.835837°N 107.9981235°W[1]
Area	318 acres (129 ha)[2]
Created	January 24, 1923
Visitors	41,106 (in 2011)[3]
Governing body	National Park Service
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part of	Chaco Culture National Historical Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Type	U.S. historic district
Designated	October 18, 1966
Reference no.	66000484[4]

The Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves Ancestral Puebloan structures in North-Western New Mexico, United States, located close to the town of Aztec and Northeast of Farmington, near the Animas River. Salmon Ruins and Heritage Park, with more Puebloan structures, lies a short distance to the south, just west of Bloomfield near the San Juan River. The buildings date to the 11th to 13th centuries, and the misnomer attributing them to the Aztec civilization can be traced back to early American settlers in the mid-19th century. The actual construction was by the Ancestral Puebloans.

The site was declared "Aztec Ruin National Monument" on January 24, 1923, and with a boundary change it was renamed "Ruins" on July 2, 1928. As a historical property of the National Park Service the National Monument was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Aztec Ruins was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, as part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, on December 8, 1987. The site is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.^[5]

References

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

1. "Aztec Ruins National Monument". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
2. "Listing of acreage as of December 31, 2011". Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
3. "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
4. Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
5. Trail of the Ancients. New Mexico Tourism Department. Retrieved August 14, 2014.

Aztec West. Overview of Chacoan structure, with Hubbard Mound at lower left.

External links

• Aztec Ruins - Photos, Videos, and Maps
• National Park Service website
• American Southwest, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• UNESCO World Heritage site