Quay County sits in eastern New Mexico with Tucumcari as its county seat. The county is named for Matthew S. Quay, a distinguished Civil War veteran and U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. Quay was a leading proponent in Congress for New Mexico statehood. In 1903, when a new county was created in New Mexico, enthusiasm ran high for Quay and a resolution was drawn up by its residents and sent to Governor Otero. Quay was invited to a special ceremony in Santa Fe later that year, but he never responded, possibly because he was ill; he died the following year. The county seat of Quay, Tucumcari, was once one of the leading cattle shipping points in the state, and is now terminal center for many large trucking firms. Conchas Lake to the north of Quay County allows for large areas of farming irrigation, while Ute Lake provides fishing and swimming for sports enthusiasts.
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Quay County was created in 1903 out of Guadalupe County. Tucumcari is the county seat.
The Place Names of New Mexico, revised Edition by Robert Julyan, University of New Mexico Press, 1998.