Nutt, New Mexico

"Nutt Mountain" redirects here. For the mountain in Arizona, see Mount Nutt Wilderness.

Nutt, New Mexico
Unincorporated community
Nutt in January 2013, looking northeast
Nutt in January 2013, looking northeast
Nutt is located in New Mexico
Nutt
Nutt
Nutt is located in the United States
Nutt
Nutt
Coordinates: 32°34′22″N 107°26′58″W / 32.57278°N 107.44944°W / 32.57278; -107.44944
CountryUnited States
StateNew Mexico
CountyLuna
Founded1881
Elevation
4,721 ft (1,439 m)
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total12
Time zoneUTC-7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP codes
88030
Area code575
GNIS feature ID898578

Nutt is an unincorporated community in Luna County, southern New Mexico, in the American Southwest.[2] It is located nineteen miles southwest of Hatch on NM 26 at the intersection with NM 27.

History

Signature of H.C. Nutt

Prior to the founding of the town, the area was the site of Lloyd's Ranch and Slocum's Ranch, and was subject to attacks by the Apache.[3]

The town of Nutt was founded in 1881 as a depot and water station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and was named after Colonel Henry Clay Nutt who served on their board of directors, and was instrumental in getting enabling legislation through the New Mexico Territorial Legislature for the southern spur of the railway.[4][5] Wagon trains left Nutt for the mining communities in the Black Range until the Santa Fe ran a spur line up to Lake Valley in 1884.[6] After the spur was built, Nutt quickly declined. Its history as a town after 1884 is rather obscure. It has referred to itself as being the Middle of Nowhere.[7][8] Its only claim to fame came in 1892 when Tom Ketchum aka "Black Jack" and his brother Sam learned that an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe train was en route to Deming with a large payroll. The gang stopped the train just outside Nutt, holding it up at gunpoint, and made off with about $20,000.

Nutt had a post office from 1881 until 1884, and again from 1899 until 1939.[9][10]

Geography

South face of Nutt Mountain

Nutt is located on a rise between Los Uvas Valley to the east,[11] and the Macho Creek Valley to the west. The rise is actually a pass through the remnants of the Good Sight Mountains, the tallest of which, Nutt Mountain at 5,940 ft., is 2.5 miles north of Nutt.[5] Nutt Mountain is a volcanic plug composed of layered rhyolites, and has also been called Sunday Cone.[12] The soil in Nutt is composed of eroded tuffs, andesites, latites and rhyolites.

Demographics

For the 2010 census, Nutt was part of the United States Census Bureau's Deming North CCD, Tract 5.[13][14] In 2010, there were twelve people recorded for Nutt.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ 11 in block 1007 "Census Block 000500-1-007 in Luna County, New Mexico". World Media Group using United States Census Bureau data. and 1 in block 1047 "Census Block 000500-1-047 in Luna County, New Mexico". World Media Group using United States Census Bureau data.
  2. ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for: Nutt (ID:898578)". United States Geological Survey. November 13, 1980.
  3. ^ Michno, Gregory (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-87842-468-9.
  4. ^ Henry Clay Nutt received his rank of colonel in the Iowa militia. Staff (August 16, 1892). "Obituary Notes" (PDF). The New York Times. H.C. Nutt was president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad from 1881 to 1889. The biographical directory of the railway officials of America for 1887. Chicago: The Railway Age Publishing Company. 1887. p. 235.
  5. ^ a b "Nutt Mountain: Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering". Summit Post.
  6. ^ The spur to Lake Valley was built by the New Mexican Railroad, which was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Riskin, Marci L. (2005). The Train Stops Here: New Mexico's Railway Legacy. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8263-3307-0.
  7. ^ "Nutt Corner Bar: A Nation, NM Restaurant". Thrillist.com. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  8. ^ "About – Nutt Corner Bar". Nuttcornerbar.com. January 24, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  9. ^ Julyan, Robert Hixson (1996). The Place Names of New Mexico (second ed.). Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-8263-1689-9.
  10. ^ Sherman, James E. & Sherman, Barbara H. (1975). Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-8061-1066-0.
  11. ^ Hansen, Craig V.; et al. (1998). Nutt-Hockett Basin Hydrographic Survey Report (PDF). Santa Fe, New Mexico: Office of the State Engineer. p. v. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2003.
  12. ^ Julyan, Robert Hixson (2006). The Mountains of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-8263-3516-6.
  13. ^ "Census Tract map: New Mexico, Luna County, Tract 5" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
  14. ^ As of 2010, the total population of Census Tract 000500 was 4,338. "Census Tract 000500 in Luna County, New Mexico Population and Races". World Media Group using United States Census Bureau data.
  15. ^ In the 2010 census Nutt consisted of Census blocks 1005–1008, 1038–1042, 1045–1050, 1059, 1061, and 1062. Zero population was reported for all blocks, except 1007 with eleven people and 1047 with one person.