Santa Cruz Map
Santa Cruz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 423 at the 2000 census.
The broader contribution to the Spanish settlement at Santa Cruz encompasses the small geographical area in which it's situated. The nearby, and unsuccessful, Spanish colony at San Gabriel established by the explorer Juan de Oñate at Ohkay Owingeh in 1598 produced numerous Spanish haciendas and ranchos throughout the locality. However, after the 1680 revolt, it was decided by the new Spanish governor in 1695 under Diego de Vargas to establish a new Spanish villa for the recent settlers that had arrived from Mexico City to help settle and campaign against the rebellious natives. The native pueblos of San Lazaro and San Cristobal, along with its population of Tano Pueblo Natives, were relocated farther away to accomidate the new town where the settlement of Villa Nueva de Santa Cruz de los Españoles Mejicanos del Rey Nuestro Señor Carlos Segundo took root.
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century, frontier settlement at Santa Cruz had produced a rustic and self-reliant population. With news of Mexican independence in 1821, the town was hardly affected with the exception of the new government's laws and office appointments. Trade with the United States had been forbidden under the former Spanish government, but now enterprising Anglo-Americans began pouring down the Santa Fe Trail, bringing a new prosperity to the region
Nearby cities include Truchas, Los Alamos, Dixon, Tesuque, Espanola.