Belen

Belen, city, Valencia county, central New Mexico, U.S. Reserved for genizaros, or people of mixed ethnicity, the original village, located in fertile bottomlands along the Rio Grande, was destroyed during the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. In 1740 Diego de Torres and Antonio de Salazar received land grants in the vicinity, patented as Nuestra Señora de Belen (Spanish: “Our Lady of Bethlehem”), and another village grew on the site. Belen became an important railroad centre, nicknamed “Hub City,” after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad completed a line through it in 1907. The Belen Harvey House (1901) was one of a chain of lunch counters run by Fred Harvey and his “Harvey Girls” to serve travelers on that line; it has been restored as a restaurant and museum. The city of Belen remains an agricultural and transportation centre. Inc. village, 1918; town, 1940; city, 1966. Pop. (2000) 6,901; (2010) 7,269.