Las Vegas Heritage WeekCelebrating Our Spanish Heritage

In 1835, Spanish settlers applied for a communal land grant from Mexico, asked to settle in a rolling valley beneath the Sangre de Christo Mountains. New Mexico wasn’t yet a State of the Union. The railroad connecting east to west hadn’t yet been built. The settlers called their town Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes – Our Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadows. They crafted simple adobe homes from the earth’s red clay, laying out their fledgling town in the traditional Spanish manner, with a spacious central plaza anchoring the surrounding community.

The budding farming village rested on the Santa Fe Trail. It was the first New Mexican settlement encountered by hopeful travelers and weary supply trains on their arduous 600-mile journey across the eastern states. The Trail offered the rich promise of employment, and Las Vegas grew to over one thousand people by 1860. During the next 20 years, its population quadrupled as it established itself as an important trade center, with businesses from banks to bars as well as elegant residences lining the Plaza. The arrival of the Atchikson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1879 cemented the city’s position as a mercantile center. At its peak, Las Vegas’ trade area included all of eastern New Mexico and western Texas.

This year, Las Vegas celebrates its Spanish heritage with a series of summer events designed to offer a bit of history and excitement to tourists and locals alike. Over 40 events are scheduled to take place over Las Vegas Heritage Week, August 5 – 14, 2011.  Highlights of the celebration include the Places with a Past Historic Home Tour where tourists can tour 1860’s traditional Spanish adobes, Victorian turn of the century mansions and the Montezuma Castle on this at-your-own- pace self-guided tour. Enjoy the New Mexico Territorial Brass Band under the cooling shade of the Plaza’s trees, walk along Bridge Street for the Blessing of the Waters traditional Northern New Mexican acequia ceremony, and learn about the early history of New Mexico during art, history, and culture demonstrations and lectures.

For more information, call the Citizen’s Committee for Historic Preservation at 505-425-8803.