Welcome to Afton ...
So far, we found very little information about Afton. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Afton to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Afton, please Contact Us.
Afton would have been located within present day Dona Ana County<2>.
The location of Afton has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<3>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Afton, you might consider that their post office opened in 1923.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Afton is 4,210 feet [1,283 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Afton is about ¾ mile [or ~1¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where Afton was located is in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Note: If you leave Afton and travel east, you will leave Mountain Time and cross into the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).
The location where Afton once stood is in the (575) area code.
Communities Also Named Afton ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 33 communities that are also named Afton - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California (2), Delaware, Georgia (2), Iowa, Kansas (3), Louisiana (2), Michigan (2), Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee (2), Texas, Virginia (2), West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Afton.
Communities near Afton ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Afton.
- Mesilla
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesilla
- Mesilla is located in Dona Ana County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,844 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesilla <5>
- Lanark ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - La Mesa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Mesa
- La Mesa is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Mesa <5>
- Chamberino
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberino
- Chamberino is located in Dona Ana County
- Mesquite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesquite have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesquite
- Mesquite is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesquite <5>
- Fairacres
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairacres
- Fairacres is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairacres <5>
- Vado
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vado have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vado
- Vado is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vado <5>
- Mesilla Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesilla Park
- Mesilla Park is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesilla Park <5>
- Berino
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berino
- Berino is located in Dona Ana County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berino <5>
- La Union
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Union
- La Union is located in Dona Ana County
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Afton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Afton.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Afton. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Afton.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Afton. See our Newspapers Page for Afton.
Adding Afton to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Afton in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Afton was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
We also found Afton mentioned on a train schedule titled Southern Pacific Railroad Time Tables (August 1903).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Afton.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Dona Ana County: www.co.dona-ana.nm.us/
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Afton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of New Mexico's counties, including Dona Ana, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Afton - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |