Editing Timberon, New Mexico

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Timberon, New Mexico
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place|CDP]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Timberon Lodge New Mexico.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Timberon Lodge
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map = Otero_County_New_Mexico_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Timberon_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Timberon, New Mexico
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             = 
|pushpin_map              = USA
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location in the United States

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[New Mexico]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in New Mexico|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/5/query?where=STATE='35'&outFields=NAME,STATE,PLACE,AREALAND,AREAWATER,LSADC,CENTLAT,CENTLON&orderByFields=PLACE&returnGeometry=false&returnTrueCurves=false&f=json|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 12, 2022}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 52.61
|area_land_km2            = 52.55
|area_water_km2           = 0.06
|area_total_sq_mi         = 20.31
|area_land_sq_mi          = 20.29
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.02

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly"/>
|population_total         = 345
|population_density_km2   = 6.57
|population_density_sq_mi = 17.00

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
|utc_offset               = -7
|timezone_DST             = MDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -6
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 6975
|coordinates              = {{coord|32|37|54|N|105|41|32|W|region:US-NM|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 88350
|area_code                = [[Area code 575|575]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 35-77950
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2409323<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2409323}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Timberon''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero County]], [[New Mexico]], United States, and is within the [[Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)|Sacramento Mountains]] at the southern edge of the [[Lincoln National Forest]]. The population was 345 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].

Timberon has a nine-hole golf course, as well as a lodge, a pool, a church, an airstrip and a volunteer fire department. The residents consider it a retirement and resort community. Children are bussed into [[Cloudcroft, New Mexico|Cloudcroft]] for public school.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Timberon FAQ |date=27 January 2013 |publisher=Timberon Development Council |url=http://www.timberon.org/faq/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111012518/http://www.timberon.org/faq/ |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geography==
Timberon is located in a forested valley, known as Sacramento Canyon, on the southern slopes of the [[Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)|Sacramento Mountains]]. The Sacramento Creek,<ref>Also known as the Sacramento River. {{Citation|last=Newton |first=B.T. |display-authors=etal |year=2012 |title=Sacramento Mountains Hydrogeology Study, Otero and Chaves Counties, New Mexico |publisher=New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources |url=https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/openfile/details.cfml?Volume=543}}</ref> an [[Perennial stream|intermittent creek]], flows southeast through the valley.  The community extends up several crosscutting canyons including Arkansas Canyon, Graveyard Canyon and Carrisa Canyon. The elevation in Timberon varies from 6,900 to 7,200 feet. Jefferies Peak at {{Convert|8501|ft|m|0}} is located directly to the east of the valley, and Culp Peak at {{Convert|7280|ft|m|0}} lies to the west.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|20.2|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

==History==
The land that now constitutes the community of Timberon was purchased from the State of New Mexico in 1933 by Judge Paul Moss.  Moss had a hunting lodge there and cut some timber.  In the 1960s the land was owned by Willie Farah, of [[El Paso, Texas]] who built an airstrip there.  Development of the community really began when the property was sold to the North American Land Development Corporation in March 1969.  The volunteer fire department was begun in 1974, the firehouse was completed in 1981 and the post office opened that same year.<ref name="TDC-History">{{Cite web|title=History of Timberon |date=10 January 2013 |publisher=Timberon Development Council |url=http://www.timberon.org/community/history-of-timberon/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111014030/http://www.timberon.org/community/history-of-timberon/ |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1976 a missile from [[White Sands Missile Range]] went awry and landed in the middle of the community.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Kohut, John J. |year=1995 |title=Stupid Government Tricks: Outrageous (But True!) Stories of Bureaucratic Bungling and Washington Waste |location=New York |publisher=Plume |page=[https://archive.org/details/stupidgovernment00kohu/page/12 12] |isbn=978-0-452-27314-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/stupidgovernment00kohu/page/12 }}</ref>  The road into Timberon was paved in 2005.<ref name="TDC-History" />

In July 2016 a fire destroyed almost eighty structures, including forty-four homes in Timberon.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Gabbert, Bill |title=Wildfire burns approximately 30 homes in Timberon, New Mexico |date=15 July 2016 |publisher=Wildfire Today|url=http://wildfiretoday.com/2016/07/15/wildfire-burns-approximately-30-homes-in-timberon-new-mexico/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807052747/http://wildfiretoday.com/2016/07/15/wildfire-burns-approximately-30-homes-in-timberon-new-mexico/ |archive-date=7 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Pierce, David |date=18 July 2016 |title=Timberon Fire now 80 percent contained |publisher=[[KOAT-TV]] |url=http://www.koat.com/article/timberon-fire-now-80-percent-contained/5072245 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201074001/http://www.koat.com/article/timberon-fire-now-80-percent-contained/5072245 |archive-date=1 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Warren, Jamie |date=21 September 2016 |orig-year=First published 18 July 2016, later updated |title=Timberon fire destroys $130K home, homeowners did not have fire insurance |publisher=[[KVIA-TV]] |url=http://www.kvia.com/news/new-mexico/timberon-fire-destroys-130k-home-homeowners-did-not-have-fire-insurance/89141995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201080455/http://www.kvia.com/news/new-mexico/timberon-fire-destroys-130k-home-homeowners-did-not-have-fire-insurance/89141995 |archive-date=1 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|2020= 345
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}</ref><ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly">{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:35&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=Oct 12, 2022}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 309 people, 145 households, and 98 families residing in the CDP. The [[population density]] was 15.3 people per square mile (5.9/km{{sup|2}}). There were 458 housing units at an average density of 22.7 per square mile (8.7/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.59% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.32% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.32% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 4.21% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 3.56% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 12.62% of the population.

There were 145 households, out of which 14.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.4% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 2.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. One person households made up 29.7% of all households with 14.5% of all households being someone living alone who was over 65 years of age. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.52.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 16.2% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 15.2% from 25 to 44, 36.6% from 45 to 64, and 28.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,519, and the median income for a family was $25,804. Males had a median income of $13,000 versus $25,278 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $11,743. About 2.9% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including none of those under the age of eighteen and 4.9% of those 65 or over.

==Education==
It is within [[Cloudcroft Municipal Schools]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st35_nm/schooldistrict_maps/c35035_otero/DC20SD_C35035.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Otero County, NM|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2021-07-27}}</ref>

In the 1970s children were bussed to the elementary school in [[Weed, New Mexico]], but because of the difficulties of winter travel, an elementary school was established in December 1980 that operated just during the three winter months. The school building, known as the Little Red School House, offered Kindergarten through Sixth Grade instruction under the [[Alamogordo School District]].<ref name="TDC-History" /> By 1992 it became a year-round school. The projected enrollment for the 1992-1993 school year was around 9<!--"The enrollment at Timberon Elementary increased to 18, double the projected number of students, he said." in source text-->, but because multiple [[Weed, New Mexico|Weed]] parents decided to send their children to Timberon instead, the actual enrolled student count that year was 18. Weed Elementary School closed in August 1992 as the enrollment count was zero despite a projected enrollment of 18.<ref name=Whatnostudents>{{cite news|title=What? No students? No school|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=1992-08-29|page=1A}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82482374/for-weed-nm/ Clipping from] [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>

In November 1992 the Cloudcroft district's board passed a resolution to annex portions of the Alamogordo district, including Timberon. In a separate motion the district drew new electoral boundaries with the annexed area effective the approval of said annexation.<ref name=Actstoexpand>{{cite news|title=Cloudcroft School Board Acts To Expand District|agency=[[Associated Press]]|newspaper=[[Albuquerque Journal]]|place=[[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]|date=1992-11-20|page=D3}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82479720/for-cloudcroft-schools-weed-nm-pinon/ Clipping] from [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>

The Little Red Schoolhouse continued under the administration of the Cloudcroft School District until May 2002, after which students were bussed to Cloudcroft.<ref name="TDC-History" />

==See also==
* [[Lincoln National Forest]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.timberon.com/ The Timberon Mountaineer]
* [http://www.timberon.info/ Timberon info pages from the Mountain Times]
* [http://www.timberon.org/ Timberon Development Council, Inc.]

{{Otero County, New Mexico}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Otero County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in New Mexico]]