History
of Las Cruces
A special thanks to Wikipedia.org
Las
Cruces is a city in Doņa Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total
population of 74,267. The population was 82,671 as of the 2005 census estimate,
making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an
agricultural region irrigated by the Rio Grande, which flows through the city. Las Cruces is also
the home of New Mexico State University. NMSU is New Mexico's only
land-grant institution, citing more than 23,000 graduate and undergraduate
students on the main campus and four branch campuses. The Organ Mountains are to the east of the city. Las Cruces has a
mayor-council form of government with a city manager. It is
the county seat of Doņa Ana CountyGR6.
Las Cruces is home to
the annual Whole
Enchilada Fiesta. The fiesta's main attraction is the creation of a very
large (on average 10 feet in diameter) flat red enchilada by local restaurant owner Roberto Estrada. The
fiesta offers live music, rides, food vendors, and other attractions typical of
fairs. The
Southern New Mexico State Fair is usually held only a few days
after the end of the Whole Enchilada Fiesta. The fiesta's mascot, "Twefie"
(taken from the abbreviation of the fiesta's name) is a large red chile pepper wearing a sombrero. At the 2004 event, Guinness World Records confirmed that Estrada had made the
world's largest flat enchilada. (There was a pre-existing record for world's
longest rolled enchilada, but not for world's largest flat
enchilada.)
History
Las Cruces' name (Spanish for "the crosses") has been a disputed topic among
historians. One of the many folklore tales is that in 1830,
there was an Apache
massacre of a party of nine travelers, including a Mexican Army General, a
priest, and five (or four) choir boys. Only one choir boy survived the massacre,
and buried the others, marking the graves with crosses, according to the story
that "Tio" Tuseņo told tourists for a handout. According to one of the
folktales, the area became known as "El Pueblo del Jardín de Las Cruces" ("The
Village of the Garden of the Crosses"). A lawsuit filed seeking the removal of
three crosses from the city's seal [1] has
been dismissed [2].
The nearby village of
Mesilla was founded in 1848 by
settlers from Doņa
Ana, a village just north of the newly established U.S.-Mexico
border, who wished to stay in Mexican
territory after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that year. However in 1853, the
region was incorporated into the United States with the Gadsden Purchase. Las Cruces was incorporated as a town in 1907.
The completion of the
Elephant
Butte Dike to the north of the city in 1916
provided water for agriculture and electricity for urban development. Since World War II the growth of the nearby White Sands Missile Range and its National
Aeronautics and Space Administration facilities added greatly to the local
economy.
Geography
Las Cruces is located
at 32°19′11″N, 106°45′55″W (32.319693, -106.765157)GR1. Elevation 4000 ft
or 1219 m above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
135.2 km˛ (52.2 mi˛). 134.9 km˛ (52.1 mi˛) of it is land and 0.3 km˛ (0.1 mi˛)
of it (0.25%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 74,267 people, 29,184
households, and 18,123 families residing in the city. The population
density was 550.5/km˛ (1,425.7/mi˛). There were 31,682 housing units at an
average density of 234.8/km˛ (608.2/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was
69.01% White,
2.34% African American, 1.74% Native American, 1.16% Asian,
0.07% Pacific Islander, 21.59% from other races, and 4.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 51.73% of the population.
There were 29,184
households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them,
42.3% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 27.9% of all
households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average
family size was 3.05.
In the city the
population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 16.0% from 18 to 24,
26.9% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or
older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.
The median income for
a household in the city was $30,375, and the median income for a family was
$37,670. Males had a median income of $30,923 versus $21,759 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,704. About 17.2% of
families and 23.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7%
of those age 65 or over.
Education
Public Schools
Public schools in Las
Cruces are part of the Las Cruces Public School District. There is a federal lawsuit
against the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education for sanctioning the
permanent exhibit of Latin crosses on public school property. High schools include
the following:
Private Schools
Las Cruces Catholic
Schools
Colleges &
Universities
Four-Year
Two-Year
Downtown
Unlike many cities
its size, Las Cruces lacks a true central business district. Most Las Crucens
would agree that the modern "heart" of the city, where most stores and
restaurants are located, is the area running down Telshor Boulevard and Lohman
Avenue. Las Cruces' only shopping mall and a variety of retail stores and
restaurants are located in this area. However, the historic downtown of the city
is the area around Main Street, a six-block stretch of which was closed off in
1973 to form the "Downtown Mall", a pedestrianized shopping area. The downtown
mall has a farmers market each Wednesday and Saturday morning, where a variety
of foods and cultural items can be purchased from small stands that are set up
by local farmers, artists, and craftspeople . It also contains many businesses,
churches and theaters, which add a great deal of character to Las Cruces by
continuing to exist in the historic downtown.
Plans to re-open the
mall to vehicular traffic have drawn criticism from people who feel the project
will be too costly and from others who enjoy the aesthetics of the pedestrian
mall. Nevertheless, the mall's north and south entrances have been torn down.
Furthermore, in August 2005, a master plan was adopted, the centerpiece of which
is the restoration of two-way traffic to Main Street.
Trivia
Transportation
Airports
Major Highways
Media
Newspapers
Online Media
Radio Stations
Television Stations
Others
Points of interest
Sister cities
Las Cruces has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
External links
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