Welcome to Thoreau ...

Thoreau is located in northwest New Mexico.

Thoreau is located in McKinley County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Thoreau, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1899.

Thoreau is 7,140 feet [2,176 m] above sea level.<2> In other words, the elevation of Thoreau is about 1¼ mile [or ~2¼ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Thoreau lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you leave Thoreau and travel west, you will leave Mountain Time and cross into the Mountain Standard Time Zone (MST). In addition, you will be moving from an area that observes daylight saving time to one that does not.

Thoreau is located in the (505) area code.

The ZIP code for Thoreau: 87323<3>

Communities near Thoreau ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Thoreau.

• Continental Divide
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Continental Divide
  • Continental Divide is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Continental Divide <4>
• Smith Lake
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Lake
  • Smith Lake is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smith Lake <4>
• Prewitt
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prewitt
  • Prewitt is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prewitt <4>
• Fort Wingate
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Wingate
  • Fort Wingate is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Wingate <4>
• Crownpoint
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crownpoint
  • Crownpoint is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crownpoint <4>
• Church Rock
  (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Church Rock
  • Church Rock is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Church Rock <4>
• Milan
  (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milan have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
  • Milan is located in Cibola County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,640 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <4>
• Navajo Wingate Village
  (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navajo Wingate Village have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Wingate Village
  • Navajo Wingate Village is located in McKinley County
• Bread Springs
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bread Springs
  • Bread Springs is located in McKinley County
• Ramah
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramah have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramah
  • Ramah is located in McKinley County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramah <4>

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 Thoreau. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Thoreau.

We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Thoreau. See our Newspapers Page for Thoreau.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Thoreau ...

Looking for more information about Thoreau? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Thoreau, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Thoreau.

Adding Thoreau to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Thoreau 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 Thoreau was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Thoreau post office opened in 1899.

We also found Thoreau on a map titled Rand McNally Map of New Mexico (1925).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Thoreau.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thoreau. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for McKinley County: www.co.mckinley.nm.us/

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/