Jacona, NM

Jacona is a small unincorporated community in the Pojoaque Valley, north of Santa Fe, with a name that carries a Tewa history. The Spanish form Jacona comes from Sakona, part of the longer Tewa place-name Sakonaekwaeku’i’e, described in local history as the little place at the tobacco barranca. The original pueblo was abandoned in 1696, but the name stayed attached to this part of the valley. It is a reminder that the modern road map sits on older Pueblo geography. The valley’s old names still sit underneath the modern school and highway labels.

Today Jacona is a Santa Fe County census-designated place served by Pojoaque Valley Schools. The surrounding map is a mix of homes, open land, and valley roads connecting Jacona with Pojoaque, the Pueblo communities, and Santa Fe. There is no separate city center to summarize; the place is better understood as one named piece of a living Tewa valley, with a school district and regional roads doing the everyday connecting.