Embudo, New Mexico
Unincorporated community
Embudo, New Mexico Location within the state of New Mexico Show map of New Mexico Embudo, New Mexico Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates:36°12′27″N105°57′40″W / 36.20750°N 105.96111°W /36.20750; -105.96111
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	Rio Arriba
Elevation [1]	5,824 ft (1,775 m)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID	915823[1]
United States historic place Embudo Historic District U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic district NM State Register of Cultural Properties Old railroad water tower at the Embudo Station Location New Mexico State Road 68, Embudo, New Mexico Area 18 acres (7.3 ha) Built 1880 (1880) NRHP reference No. 79001547[2] NMSRCP No. 485 Significant dates Added to NRHP March 12, 1979 Designated NMSRCP January 20, 1977

Embudo (alsoEmbudo Station) is anunincorporated community inRio Arriba County,New Mexico, United States. The community is within theRio Grande Gorge and runs along both sides of theRio Grande.near where theEmbudo Creek (Rio Embudo) flows into theRio Grande, encompassing the communities of La Bolsa and Rinconada and ending at the Taos County Line.

The name "Embudo", meaning "funnel" in Spanish, was given to the area by early Spanish settlers because the Rio Embudo flowed through a narrow pass which reminded them of a funnel.^[3]

Embudo was founded in 1881 when theDenver and Rio Grande railroad opened a station (depot) there on itsChili Line. The station was named after the village San Antonio de Embudo,^[4] located two miles up the Embudo Creek, and until 1902 the communities shared a post office and were known jointly as Embudo. In 1900, anticipating a separate post office in the village, San Antonio de Embudo changed its name toDixon after the Presbyterian missionary Dixon, who established a mission there. When the Dixon post office opened in 1902, however, Embudo lost its post office. Embudo got a post office again in 1905, only to lose it in 1909. In 1914, Embudo once again had its own post office,^[4] zip code 87531, but the building was removed in 2016, and mailboxes were transferred to the Dixon post office.

The railroad stop was at the bottom of Barranca Hill, where the line began its steep and twisting climb out of the Rio Grande Gorge, rising 1128 ft (371m) in 7.5 miles (12.1 km) of mostly 4% gradient to Barranca. The station was scheduled as the meeting point for the north- and south-boundmixed trains, and an adjacent restaurant made a mid-day meal available for passengers. The presence of both trains also made it possible, when necessary, to use both locomotives todouble-head the northbound train to the top of the Gorge.^[5]

TheUnited States Geological Survey (USGS) established theEmbudo Stream Gauging Station here, to measure the flow of the Rio Grande. This was the first USGS stream gauging station and was established byJohn Wesley Powell in 1888. Embudo was also the first USGS training center for hydrographers.^[6]

Today, from the state road a concrete bridge, replacing the old wooden bridge, crosses the Rio Grande to the "Embudo Historic District" which consists of the old railway station and associated buildings.

Embudo is onNew Mexico State Road 68, beginning at Embudo Station located 2.9 miles (4.7 km) south of the intersection ofNew Mexico State Road 75. It was previously onU.S. Route 64 (US 64), a major national east-west highway and the main route betweenSanta Fe andTaos. In 1965, upon completion of theRio Grande Gorge Bridge US 64 was realigned to end atTeec Nos Pos, Arizona rather than Santa Fe, bypassing Embudo.

• Casimiro Barela, Colorado politician
• Susan K. Herrera, member of theNew Mexico House of Representatives
• Raul Midón, musician
• Ra Paulette, cave sculptor

• 
  View of the mesa in 1885. The tracks for theChili Line, now gone, can be seen in the foreground.
• 
  Freight train descending Barranca Hill, 1890 byW H Jackson
• 
  NM Route 68 to Taos at right.
• 
  Rio Grande just upstream from the Embudo Bridge
• 
  Gas-alley-boy at Johnnie Meier Classical Gas Museum in Embudo.^[7]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico

Wikimedia Commons has media related toEmbudo, New Mexico.

• "Offbeat New Mexico: Places of Unexpected History, Art, and Culture"
• "National Register of Historic Places: New Mexico - Rio Arriba County - Historic Districts"
• noaa.gov: Rio Grande at Embudo

• Unincorporated communities in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
• History of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
• Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area
• Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
• National Register of Historic Places in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
• Unincorporated communities in New Mexico
• New Mexico populated places on the Rio Grande

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