Otero County

Otero County was created in 1899 from parts of Dona Ana, Lincoln and Socorro Counties. The county seat is Alamogordo.

Otero County was named for Miguel Antonio Otero II, the first Hispanic-surnamed governor of New Mexico under American jurisdiction. He was born in St. Louis in 1859; was governor, NM Territory from 1897 to 1906; treasurer, 1909 to 1911; and he died in Santa Fe in 1944.