Mora County was created on February 1, 1860 by an act of the New Mexico Territorial Legislature with a total area of 1,934 square miles.
The county seat is Mora surrounded by smaller villages of Watrous and Wagon Mound. Prior to the Spanish conquest, the Mora area was Native American country. Although not an area of heavy settlement by stationary tribes such as the Puebloans, the Mora Valley was often used by nomadic nations, including the Ute, Navajo, and Apache. The Mora Valley became a travel-way for various Spanish explorers and others. A U.S. Army installation, Fort Union, was built in 1851 in Mora Valley serving as the headquarters of the Cavalry during the Apache Wars. It was provisioned in large part by farmers and ranchers in the area where the grist mill established by Ceran St. Vrain in 1855 produced most of the flour used at the fort.
Mora County is known for outdoor activities while visiting its historic Fort Union, the Cleveland Roller Mill museum, natural lakes, and mountain range.