Doña Ana, named after the legendary woman Doña Ana, was first mentioned as a paraje along the Camino Real. Spaniards rested near here as they retreated from New Mexico following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The community was founded in 1843 as the Doña Ana Bend Colony Grant. Today both the village and the historic Catholic Church, Nuestra Senora De Purificación, are on the National Register of Historic Places.