In the first phase of its occupation the Tijeras Pueblo had about 200 rooms in terraced buildings arranged in a "U" shape with a large ceremonial Kiva at the center.

A museum on the site is open weekends and a self-guiding trail winds through the ruins.

[6] Tijeras was part of the Carnuel land grant, created in 1763 to defend Albuquerque from the raids of Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache American Indians.

The village is located in Tijeras Canyon, a strategic and natural corridor between the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains and the Spanish settlements in the Rio Grande valley.

The Mescalero Apache name for Tijeras canyon is Nakai'e Naagishuł or "Mexican they dragged".

[9] The Tijeras area was resettled in 1819 by descendants of the original settlers plus additional landless mestizos.

By that time New Mexico had made peace with the Comanche and the threat to the eastern frontiers of the colony had decreased, making the settlement feasible.

New Mexico State Road 337 leads south from Tijeras (see Google map).

[17] In October 2014, Tijeras gained national attention for a nearby "musical road", a two-lane stretch of former U.S. Highway 66 (Route 66) with grooves in the roadway (rumble strips) arranged to cause the sounds of a famous song ("America the Beautiful") to be heard when vehicles drive on it at 45 mph.