Belen, New Mexico Snapshot
Over 265 years ago the Spanish established this peaceful little village on the west bank of the Rio Grande, and named it Belén for Bethlehem. 141 years later the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad laid tracks North and South through the Territory of New Mexico and over time this peaceful little village became a town and was given the nickname "The Hub City" because of the Belén railroad cutoff. The cutoff made it possible for many more trains to traverse East and West and North and South across the United States.
Two Spaniards, Captain Don Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar, Torres’ brother-in-law, founded Belen in 1740. The forty families who founded Belen began a community based on agriculture. By the 19th century, Belen’s economy had expanded into sheep herding, and the town grew. After New Mexico became a territory of the United Stated in 1846, immigrants began arriving and the Belen area developed as a mercantile center with trade base extending west to the Arizona line and east to the Estancia Valley. The arrival of the railroad in 1880 eventually brought shops, a roundhouse, ice plant, and yards containing miles of track and a depot. In 1918, the village of Belen came into existence. Belen became a town in 1940 and then a city in 1966. Today Belen boasts stores, motels, restaurants, friendly residents, and interesting places to visit and enjoy.
Belen’s friendliness comes from being a well-established community that welcomes everyone. Many people have strong roots in the area and those people embrace everyone, especially folks who love the area and make it their home. The old-fashioned values in the greater Belen area bring citizens together to support their community and each other.
