History:

The Tijeras area was settled shortly after San Antonio.  In 1880, with 15 families, it was the second-most densely populated of the Cañon de Carnue (Tijeras Canyon) communities.  Tijeras, meaning "scissors" in Spanish, was so named because the major roads, north/south and east/west, came together like a scissors.  In 1912, a single square room white adobe building was used for Immaculate Conception Church.  Between 1912 and 1930, the property belonged to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.  At some point, the property reverted to its original owners, the Keleher family.  Around 1935, Tijeras residents apparently appropriated the building for church use again, renaming the church Santo Niño (Holy Child).  In later years, they added an altar and a sacristy.  The property was again given to the Archdiocese in 1963 and eventually became the property of the village of Tijeras.  The old Santo Niño church is no longer in use and is intended to become a museum.  

A new larger church (the current Holy Child Church) was built in 1971.  Parishioners built a rectory in 1987, and later, a multipurpose building, which was dedicated San José Religious Education Center by Archbishop Michael Sheehan on September 22, 1996.  In February 2000, we celebrated the dedication of a new office building between the church and the rectory.  Holy Child Parish celebrates its fiesta in Tijeras each October.

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