Santa Clara

Santa Clara is a village in Grant County, New Mexico that was originally named "Central”. Its post office was established under the name “Central” on January 8, 1887. However, the name was changed to Santa Clara in 1996.

Santa Clara is located at 32°46′32″N 108°09′13″W / 32.775681°N 108.153597°W / 32.775681; -108.153597. Santa Clara sits at an elevation of 5,978 feet.

Santa Clara is home to Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark. On August 21, 1866, Lieutenant James M. Kerr, Company B, 125th United States colored Infantry, ordered his troops to begin building a new post in Apache country in the New Mexico Territory. Fort Bayard is known as a home for the Buffalo Soldiers. Throughout the years, Fort Bayard has also served as a military sanatorium, a hospital specializing in the treatment of tuberculosis, a Veteran’s Hospital, a German POW Camp, and is still home to a modern Fort Bayard Medical Center. Santa Clara is also the home of Fort Bayard National Cemetery. Fort Bayard National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 2002.