Aztec Ruins National Monument
Record of the Week for January 23, 2022
On January 24, 1923, the Aztec Ruins National Monument was established in San Juan County in northwest New Mexico. Despite the name, the site is now known to have been constructed by the ancestral Pueblo and not the Aztecs.
As shown in the plat above, the Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in Township 30 North Range 11 West of the New Mexico principal meridian. The site was noted on the original survey plat for the township in section 4.
Located within the Chaco Culture National Historical Park World Heritage Site, the Aztec Ruins National Monument is the largest ancestral Pueblo in the Animas River Valley. The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 1966.
Even the site's visitor center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This building originally served as a residence and workspace for Earl Morris in 1919. A large public lobby/ museum space was later added on to the residence. The Aztec Ruins Administration Building is a one-story, irregularly shaped building that currently reflects the Pueblo Revival style. When it was originally built, it incorporated not only aboriginal construction strategies and design features but also fieldstone and timbers cut and harvested by the prehistoric builders and occupants of Aztec Ruins.
