Town file
Chimayo, New Mexico
Chimayo, New Mexico (Rio Arriba County, New Mexico) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 22, "A Deadly Massacre" (14 June 2017). Chimayo sits in the north central part of New Mexico, in Rio Arriba County, about an hour and a half from Albuquerque and half an hour from Santa Fe.
- Town
- Chimayo
- County
- Rio Arriba County
- State
- New Mexico
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 22
- Approximate location
- 35.999, -105.945
Episode 22 / 14 June 2017 / 68 min / full
A Deadly Massacre
"Chamayo is in the north central part of the state, kind of dead center up north; this is in Rio Arriba County" about 0:05:18
The case: The Chimayo massacre (January 26, 1991). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2017
- Population
- 2,572
- Median age
- 38.6
- Median home value
- about $98,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $660 a month
- Cost of living
- 81
- Religious
- 65%
- Property crime
- ▲ slightly higher than average
- Violent crime
- ▲ almost double the average
History, in brief
- The name Chimayo comes from the Tewa Indian language and means "superior red flaking stone". about 0:08:38
- The area began to be settled in about 1692, when the Spanish encouraged people to go there. about 0:08:51
- El Santuario de Chimayo was built privately in 1816, not by the Catholic church proper, so local people could worship. about 0:11:01
- The chapel was handed over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. about 0:11:14
- It became a national historic landmark in 1970. about 0:11:20
- It has been called the most important Catholic pilgrimage centre in the United States. about 0:11:22
- The native Hispanic Institute founder started the Chimayo Chili project in 2003 to replenish 300-year-old native seed stock. about 0:11:41
- Since the mid-20th century the town has been known as a haven of heroin distribution. about 0:12:24
- A giant federal drug raid in 1999 moved much of the heroin traffic to a nearby town and crime rates dropped afterwards. about 0:13:16
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Tijeras, New Mexico68 miles
- Trinidad, Colorado114 miles
- Bernardo, New Mexico120 miles
- Walsenburg, Colorado130 miles
- Flora Vista, New Mexico132 miles
- Farmington, New Mexico135 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.