Constructed 1890 Lincoln Park was one of two municipal parks platted in the City of East Las Vegas after the railroad steamed into the town on July 4, 1879. Lincoln Park’s close proximity to the railroad district two blocks away made it a popular location for housing for Santa Fe Read more…
The Las Vegas Railroad Depot replaced an earlier wooden depot constructed after the Santa Fe RR arrived in July, 1879, making Las Vegas the first railhead in the NM Territory. The existing depot is one of the earliest buildings built in the trademark California Mission Revival style in NM. The Read more…
The Old Town Plaza of Las Vegas was founded by settlers from nearby San Miguel, NM as the Santa Fe Trail gained importance as an international trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe. The Las Vegas plaza is where Gen. Steven W. Kearny and the US Army of the West Read more…
Constructed 1912 Though it opened in 1912 as the Mutual Theater, the Kiva Theater is the second-oldest movie theater still operating in New Mexico, being seven years younger than the Fountain Theater in Mesilla. There is a photo of the auditorium of the Kiva Theatre in the April 29, 1939, Read more…
The Gallinas River flows out of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains from the Pecos Wilderness Area located between Las Vegas and Santa Fe. The Gallinas runs south to join the Pecos River near Anton Chico. The Gallinas nourishes the rich meadow and pasture lands from which the community of Las Read more…
Constructed 1956 The Fort Union Drive-In has made the conversion to digital projection, but this was the story in 2013. New technology requires that the theater undergoes an upgrade to digital equipment and projection room. There are around 350 drive-ins left in the nation, and only two left in New Read more…
Constructed 1923 Originally called the Meadows Hotel, the El Fidel Hotel opened in 1923, billed as a modern inn to attract tourists traveling the country in their newfangled automobiles. It was the first hotel in Las Vegas, NM with bathrooms in each guest room. Today, the El Fidel is listed Read more…
Constructed 1909 Built in 1882, burned and rebuilt in 1909, the E. Romero Hose & Fire Building is the home of the first volunteer fire department in New Mexico. The original wood frame fire house was replaced by the brick building in 1909. The 1913 Sanborn map notes for the Read more…
Constructed 1900 An entire new city was platted between the Gallinas River and the Railroad in East Las Vegas after 1879. The two towns East Las Vegas and West Las Vegas would remain separate municipalities until consolidation in 1970. The commercial district of East Las Vegas was centered on the Read more…
Constructed 1870 The neighborhood immediately south of the Las Vegas Plaza was home to some of the first schools in the New Mexico Territory, and is named District of the Schools in Spanish. The Sisters of Loretto established an Academy here that educated generations of youngsters during the Territorial period. Read more…
Constructed 1940 The City of Las Vegas Museum and Rough Rider Memorial is housed in the historic Municipal Building. Las Vegas Municipal Building was designed by the Santa Fe architectural firm of Kruger & Clark and constructed during 1939-40 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Among the museum’s exhibits Read more…
Constructed 1898 The legendary Hotel Castaneda, a former hotel built by Fred Harvey for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad is primed for restoration after a long period of inactivity. The hotel’s architects were Frederick Roehrig and A. Reinsch. The hotel is the oldest Mission-Revival Style building in the Read more…
The Carnegie Park Historic District is listed on the state and national registers and preserves the architectural fabric and eclecticism of the Gilded Age in New Mexico. With the boomtown prosperity of the railroad economy, Las Vegas attracted many prosperous merchants and entrepreneurs, some of whom made their homes near Read more…
Carnegie Park was one of two city parks platted by the City of East Las Vegas soon after the Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1879. Along with Lincoln Park, the two Las Vegas city parks are among the best preserved 19th Century parks in New Mexico. Laid out in a Read more…
Constructed 1904 Las Vegas Carnegie Library was one of three Carnegie Libraries built in New Mexico, along with Raton and Roswell. A grant of $10,000 from the Andrew Carnegie fund helped build the library, and Las Vegas is the only active Carnegie Library remaining in the state. The building was Read more…
Constructed 1890 Located on a downhill slope between the Plaza and the Gallinas River, what is now Bridge Street was originally the National Road or the Santa Fe Trail before the railroad arrived. This area was where the original settlements gardens and acequia madre (mother ditch) were located. As the Read more…
“The Zuni people have farmed the Zuni River Valley and many of its tributaries for thousands of years, raising primarily corn, squash, beans, and other vegetables. Many varieties of these plants are native to the Zuni Reservation.” – Pueblo of Zuni website According to Wikipedia, the Zuni River begin about Read more…
Constructed 1629 Experience one of New Mexico’s oldest Spanish Colonial missions, established in 1629 and restored in the late 1960’s. For almost four centuries, this large adobe complex has witnessed local and regional history being made. The world-class murals of Alex Seowtewa on the interior walls provide a spectacular glimpse Read more…