Glossary · Place & Name
Las Cruces
Spanish for “the crosses”: the city, county seat of Doña Ana County, named for three crosses early settlers reported north of town.
Las Cruces is a city in southern New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. Its name is Spanish for “the crosses”, after three crosses that its earliest settlers reported seeing just north of the town, thought to be marked graves or roadside memorials.
The town was first surveyed in 1849. The 2020 census counted 111,385 people, making it the second-largest city in New Mexico.
Sources
Questions people ask
What does Las Cruces mean?
It is Spanish for “the crosses”. The town was named for three crosses its earliest settlers reported seeing just north of it.
When was Las Cruces founded?
The settlement was founded in 1849, when the US Army first surveyed the town.
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