MainStreet Roswell

Constructed 1936. The City of Roswell acquired the Haynes property in the 1930s and turned it into a municipal park. It was named Cahoon Park in 1936 after pioneer banker E.A. Cahoon. Now, the North Spring River is an intermittent waterway about 5 miles in length coursing through Roswells western Read more…

Constructed 1911. The Chaves County Courthouse was built in 1911, and designed by Isaac H. Rapp of the distinguished Rapp and Rapp architectural firm of Trinidad, Colorado. The Courthouse is one of the most imposing civic buildings in New Mexico, an outstanding example of the monumental civic Beaux-Arts style. Chaves Read more…

Constructed 1900. Original houses in the Roswell area were made of adobe or even sod. Log cabins were rare as the closest trees grew in the mountains 75 miles to the west, until settlers began planting them around their new homes. The arrival of the railroad in 1894 allowed building Read more…

Constructed 1912. The Center serves as a repository for historical items from Southeast New Mexico. Contained within the collection are bronze busts by John Raymond Terken in 1937. The busts are of prominent citizens John S. Chisum, Joseph Lea, John J. Hagerman and Amelia Bolton Church. — Source: “Public Art Read more…

Constructed 1999. The following information is provided from the sign located near the statue: John Simpson Chisum 1824-1884 “Cattle King of the Pecos” John S. Chisum, a western icon, is generally recognized as the early West’s most prominent cattleman. In the mid-1870s, Chisum was the largest cattle producer in the Read more…

Constructed 1920. New Mexico Military Institute was founded by Colonel Robert S. Goss and Captain Joseph C. Lea in 1891, originally as the Goss Military Academy, with an initial enrollment of 28 students. In 1895 it acquired the land at its current location, and in 1910 it received land-grant status Read more…

Constructed 1947. The Plains Theatre in Roswell was the main movie house in town. It opened in 1947. Seating was provided for 1,000 all on a single floor, and there was a small 30 seat balcony, located next to the projection booth, which was for the exclusive use of Negro Read more…

Constructed 1939. WPA workers constructed this solid, no-nonsense building with Art Deco cement panels on the facade. As one of the many plaques inside the structure emphatically states, it was Built and paid for in 1938-39. From 1939 to 1962 the Roswell Police Department operated from here, along with other Read more…

Constructed 1937. The Roswell Museum and Art Center was founded in 1935 through an agreement between the City of Roswell, Works Progress Administration (WPA), Federal Art Project (FAP), Chaves County Archaeological and Historical Society, and the Roswell Friends of Art. The Museum opened in 1937, deriving its initial support from Read more…

Constructed 1938. A prisoner of war camp was located in Orchard Park during World War II. The German POWs were put to work building infrastructure for the city. One of their projects concerned paving the banks of the North Spring River in stone. Some of the POWs worked together and Read more…