About: Fort Bayard Historic District

The Fort Bayard Historic District encompasses the area that was the location of Fort Bayard, a United States Army military installation north of present-day Santa Clara, New Mexico. Founded in 1866, the fort at first provided security (mainly by African-American "Buffalo Soldiers") against Native American attacks on settlers during the settlement of the region in the 19th century. It was then converted into the army's first tuberculosis sanitarium, and later became a VA hospital. The property is now the Fort Bayard Medical Center, a long-term nursing care facility operated by the state of New Mexico. The only surviving 19th-century elements of the fort are some of its landscaping, and the Fort Bayard National Cemetery. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2004.