Welcome to Capitan ...

The village of Capitan is located in southeast New Mexico.

Capitan is located in Lincoln County<1>.

The location of Capitan has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Capitan, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1900.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Capitan has a population of 1,440 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Capitan is 6,640 feet [2,024 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Capitan is 1¼ mile [or ~2 km] above sea level.

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

Capitan is within the (575) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Capitan had an population of 1,440 people. This is a decrease of 3.29% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 0.21% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Capitan had a population of 1,489 people (or 7.26% of the total population of Lincoln County). This makes Capitan the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Capitan represents 0.07% of the total population of New Mexico (which has 2,059,179 people), making it the state's 53rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,489 people, the population of Capitan increased 3.19% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 1,443 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Capitan.

Communities Also Named Capitan ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Capitan - they are located in California and Louisiana.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Capitan.

Communities near Capitan ...

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

• Ruidoso
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso
  • Ruidoso is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,061 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso <5>
• Ruidoso Downs
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruidoso Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso Downs
  • Ruidoso Downs is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,631 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso Downs <5>
• Carrizozo
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizozo
  • Carrizozo is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 950 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrizozo <5>
• Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
  • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
• Nogal
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nogal
  • Nogal is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nogal <5>
• Bonito
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
  • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
• Alto
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
  • Alto is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <5>
• Sierra Vista
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Vista
  • Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County
• Sun Valley
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
  • Sun Valley is located in Lincoln County
• Alpine Cellars Village
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Cellars Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Cellars Village
  • Alpine Cellars Village is located in Lincoln 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 Capitan. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Capitan.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Capitan. 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 Capitan.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Capitan. Our list includes 5 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Capitan.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Capitan ...

Looking for more information about Capitan? 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 Capitan, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Capitan.

Adding Capitan to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Capitan post office opened in 1900.

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

For more details, see References and Mentions for Capitan.

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

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