Historic Districts
Style: Victorian-Italianate
Plaza Historic District
North Region
photo by Elmo Baca
Constructed 1835
After the Las Vegas plaza was founded near the Gallinas River in 1835, settlers quickly took advantage of the growing commerce on the Santa Fe Trail. The plaza of Las Vegas was the first settlement weary caravans encountered after nearly 800 miles on the buffalo plains, and villagers traded food, clothing, liquor and entertainment to the traders. By 1860 enterprising European Jewish and French Canadian and American merchants arrived and completely enclosed the plaza. With the arrival of the railroad in 1879, substantial brick and stone commercial buildings were constructed in popular styles such as Italianate and Classical revival. The dusty livestock plaza was landscaped with a white picket fence and trees were planted in the early 1880s. The last building was built in 1920 and the Plaza has retained a high degree of architectural quality ever since. The city celebrates the annual Fiesta on the Plaza every year for the Fourth of July, as it has since 1888. The Las Vegas Plaza is large and gracious by New Mexico standards and has been a popular location for weddings, Hollywood film locations and impromptu music, recreation and family gatherings.
North, East, West and South Plaza Streets | Las Vegas, NM 87701 | 505-425-8803
open
mon: 24/7 | tue: 24/7 | wed: 24/7 | thu: 24/7 | fri: 24/7 | sat: 24/7 | sun: 24/7
