Valencia County is named after a 17th century hacienda built by Francisco de Valencia, the Spanish official in charge of the area.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Cibola County and Bernalillo County
E – Torrance County
S – Socorro County
W – Cibalo County
Created: January 9, 1852
County Seat:
Valencia ( Mexico ) 1846 – 1847
Peralta ( Mexico ) 1847 – 1849
Valencia ( Mexico ) 1849 – 1852
Tome 1852 – 1872
Belen 1872 – 1874
Tome 1874 – 1875
Los Lunas 1875 – present
Old County Courthouse – Los Lunas
Location: 444 Luna Street Southeast / Courthouse Road Southeast
Built: 1959 – 1960
Style: Modern
Architect: Lawrence A Garcia
Contractor: K L House
Description: The building faces west and is a two story buff colored brick, glass and concrete structure. The west front has a recessed second story with thin vertical bands. Above the entrance is the crest. Low sand brick wings are on the southwest and northwest sides. The roof line is flat. The building served as the courthouse and now serves as the County Administration Building.
County Courthouse – Los Lunas
Location: 1835 Highway 314 SW / Morris Road Southwest
Built: 2006 – 2008
Style: Modern
Architect: Studio Southwest Architects, Inc. of Albuquerque
Contractor: Bradbury Stamm Construction Inc. of Albuquerque
Description: The building faces northeast and is a three story buff colored brick, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds. The northeast front has a central tower with canopy and recessed entrance on the first story and large recessed glass window on the second and third stories. The building has large square windows. The third story is recessed.
See: The 13th Judicial District includes Cibalo County and Sandoval County.
Note: The county was one of the nine original counties established January 8. 1852.
History: The county was established by Mexico in 1844 and Valencia was the county seat from 1846 to 1847 when Peralta became the county seat until 1849 when Valencia reclaimed the seat until 1852 The first courthouse built in 1850 was located in Tome. The county was created in 1852 when it became part of the New Mexico Territory and Tome was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse served until 1872 when the county seat was moved to Belen. In 1874, Tome reclaimed the county seat but in 1875 the county seat was moved to Los Lunas. The second courthouse
previous courthouse was constructed in 1913 to 1914.
Old County Courthouse – Los Lunas
County District Court Courthouse – Los Lunas
Photos taken 2007 and 2016
Images 14