Town file
Flora Vista, New Mexico
Flora Vista, New Mexico (San Juan County, New Mexico) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 82, "Sick, Twisted & Extra Stupid" (23 August 2018). In February 1994 Sandra Phillips was a seventeen-year-old girl living with her mother, Darlene Phillips, in a small house on the outskirts of Flora Vista in San Juan County, north-western New Mexico.
- Town
- Flora Vista
- County
- San Juan County
- State
- New Mexico
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 82
- Approximate location
- 36.803, -108.090
Episode 82 / 23 August 2018 / 145 min / full
Sick, Twisted & Extra Stupid
"We're going all the way to Flora Vista, New Mexico, up in the Four Corners area; it's in San Juan County in north-western New Mexico." about 0:06:30
The case: Murder of Sandra Phillips (February 1994). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2018
- Population
- 2,115
- Median age
- 46 and a half
- Median household income
- about $65,000 a year
- Median home value
- $193,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,030 a month
- Cost of living
- about 106
- Religious
- 41%
- Property crime
- ▼ about two-thirds of the national average
- Violent crime
- just about average
- Death sentences in New Mexico, 1979 to 1998
- 12
History, in brief
- The first people in the area were the Anasazi, who built the pueblo at the Aztec Ruins National Monument in the early 12th century. about 0:13:03
- By the 16th century Pueblo and Navajo natives were all in the area. about 0:13:03
- In 1864 American soldiers led by Kit Carson forced over seven thousand Navajos on the Long Walk and established reservations in New Mexico and north-eastern Arizona. about 0:14:05
- The Navajo Nation owns 60% of San Juan County and the federal government owns 29%, leaving only 11% privately owned. about 0:14:41
- San Juan County was established in 1887. about 0:14:57
- The territorial government named Aztec the county seat of San Juan County. about 0:16:04
- Residents of Farmington, Junction City, Largo and Mesa City protested the appointment. about 0:16:23
- In the 1890 election Junction City beat Aztec by nine votes; Farmington got one vote and Mesa City none. about 0:16:34
- In 1891 a judge ordered all the county records moved to Junction City. about 0:16:53
- A judge then found discrepancies and illegal activity in the election and ruled Aztec the county seat again; the county rented a room for the records at ten dollars a month. about 0:20:38
- A jail was built in 1892. about 0:21:10
- Around the turn of the 1900s fruit orchards, apples and vegetable farms appeared in the area. about 0:21:54
- By 1905 the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad had built through the area, bringing sheep and cattle and making it a real town. about 0:22:34
- The oil and gas industry started around 1950, and Farmington's population increased 763% in ten years. about 0:22:46
- In 2001 a stretch of U.S. Highway 550 was built, making the Four Corners easier to reach and boosting tourism. about 0:24:00
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Farmington, New Mexico6.0 miles
- Cortez, Colorado46 miles
- Chimayo, New Mexico132 miles
- Gunnison, Colorado136 miles
- Tijeras, New Mexico152 miles
- Whitewater, Colorado152 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.