Garita, New Mexico

Garita, also known as Variadero, is an unincorporated community located in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The community is located on New Mexico State Road 104 where it crosses the Conchas River. It was founded in 1872 by Jesús Angel, a settler from Bernal.

Garita
Unincorporated community
Garita Location within the state of New Mexico Show map of New Mexico Garita Garita (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 35°23′17″N 104°27′34″W
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	San Miguel
Elevation	4,445 ft (1,355 m)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP codes	88421[1]
Area code(s)	575
GNIS feature ID	896104[2]

Garita has a post office with ZIP code 88421, which opened on January 19, 1907; the post office used the name Variadero intermittently until the 1920s.[1][3] The community's two names both come from Spanish terms; Variadero derives from variar, meaning "to change", due to the changes in the river's course, while Garita means "lookout" or "government building".[4]

Variadero was initially called "Estrada" after the first settler, Jose Laureano Estrada, who made a permanent home along the Conchas Arroyo around the time of the Civil War. Jose Laureano is buried at the Catholic Cemetery across highway 104 from the Catholic Church in Variadero. His wife Filomena Estrada de Madrid is buried at his side. The gravemarker is still visible for both of them and his reads "Jose Laureano Estrada, 1835 - 1898, The first settler of Variadero."

Garita was settled as stated above. Garita, however, was the name given to the huge square blocks of sandstone about eight miles southeast of Variadero along highway 104 which reminded early settlers of a garita which is "sentry post" in Spanish. A small arroyo about a quarter mile northwest of the garita was named the Garita Creek. Later settlers made homes to the west, along the Garita Creek and a small community in that area was known as Garita. When Postal services were combined, the area developed the dual names of Garita and Variadero.[5]

References

1. United States Postal Service. "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved November 30, 2014.
2. "Variadero". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
3. "Postmaster Finder - Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
4. Julyan, Robert (August 26, 1996). The Place Names of New Mexico. UNM Press. p. 371. ISBN 9780826351142.
5. Grave marker for Jose Laureano Estrada, family history