Estancia is shown as a town “destroyed by enemies” (nomadic Indians) on a famous map made by Don Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco in 1779.

Over half the population in 2010 consisted of inmates in the CoreCivic prison on the east side of town, built in 1990.

It employs 200, and provides a substantial amount of income, $700,000 annually and $300,000 in taxes to the city and county.

During the “summer” season from April to June, afternoons change from warm to hot, mornings move from freezing or near-freezing to cool, and the sky is generally very clear.

The monsoon season from July to September provides the heaviest precipitation due to frequent thunderstorms, although diurnal temperature ranges remain above 35 °F or 19.4 °C.

The cool winter half of the year from October to March gradually chills with freezing mornings almost every day.