Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico Downtown Alamogordo, looking West on 10th Street; Jim Griggs Sports Complex; Shops on New York Ave; Water Tower looking East Tenth Street; Kids' Kingdom Park; View of Alamogordo from Thunder Rd.
Location in New Mexico Location in New Mexico Alamogordo, New Mexico is positioned in the US Alamogordo, New Mexico - Alamogordo, New Mexico State New Mexico Alamogordo / l m rdo / is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States.
During the 1950-60s, Alamogordo was an unofficial center for research on pilot safety and the developing United States' space program.
Alamogordo is a charter town/city with a council-manager form of government.
City government provides a large number of recreational and leisure facilities for its people, including a large park in the center of the city, many lesser parks scattered through the city, a golf course, Alameda Park Zoo, a network of walking paths, Alamogordo Public Library, and a senior people' center.
There are signs of previous inhabitants in the region such as the Clovis culture, the Folsom culture, the citizens s of the Archaic period, and the Formative stage. The Mescalero Apache were already living in the Tularosa Basin when the Spanish came in 1534, and Mescalero oral history says they have always lived there. The Spanish assembled a chapel at La Luz (about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the future site of Alamogordo) in 1719, although La Luz was not settled until about 1860.:167 The town/city of Alamogordo was established in June 1898, when the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, headed by Charles Bishop Eddy, extended the stockyards to the town.:4, 6 7 Eddy influenced the design of the community, which encompassed large wide thoroughfares and tree-lined irrigation canals. Charles Eddy's brother John Arthur Eddy titled the new town/city Alamogordo ("large/fat cottonwood" in Spanish) after a grove of fat cottonwoods he remembered from the Pecos River area.:x 1 When Alamogordo was laid out in 1898, the east-west streets were given numerical designations, while north-south streets were titled after states.
These include the Otero County Administration Building at 1101 New York Avenue, a Pueblo style building originally constructed as the chief U.S.
The last Federal agency to occupy it was the United States Forest Service who used it as the command posts of the Lincoln National Forest until October 2008, when that agency moved to a newly constructed building. Ownership of the building was transferred to Otero County government and many government offices were moved from the Courthouse to the new Administration Building in February 2009. Alamogordo briefly made global news in late 2001 when Christ Community Church held a enhance book burning of books in the Harry Potter series, and a several other series, on December 30. As of 2010, Alamogordo had a total region of 19.3 square miles (50.0 km2), all of it land. The town/city is positioned at an altitude of 4,336 feet (1,322 m) on the flank of the Sacramento Mountains and on the easterly edge of the Tularosa Basin.
It lies inside the Rio Grande rift and in the northernmost part of the Chihuahuan Desert.:36 Tectonic activeness is low in the Tularosa Basin. Plants native to the region are typical of the southern New Mexico foothills and include creosote bush, mesquite, saltbush, cottonwood, desert willow, and many species of cactus and yucca. Alamogordo has a cold desert climate (Koppen BWk) bordering on a hot desert climate (BWh) and a semi-arid climate (BSk) with hot summers and mild winters with incessantly subfreezing mornings.
September 1941 also saw the biggest daily rainfall at Alamogordo with 2.60 inches or 66.0 millimetres falling on the 22nd of that month.
During the winter, days are very mild and sunny, but evenings are cold, with 32 F or 0 C reached on 73.6 mornings amid an average winter, although only seven mornings have ever declined to or below 0 F or 17.8 C, with the coldest temperature recorded at Alamogordo being 14 F ( 25.6 C) amid a primary cold wave on January 11, 1962.
Climate data for Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Average rain days ( 0.01 inch) 3 3 3 2 3 3 8 8 5 4 3 3 47 Alamogordo's and Otero County's July 1, 2008, populace were estimated at 35,757 and 62,776 in the order given by the United States Enumeration Bureau's Population Estimates Program. New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, Alamogordo is the economic center of Otero County, with nearly half the Otero County populace living inside the town/city limits.
Alamogordo today has very little manufacturing and has a primarily service and retail economy, driven by tourism, a large close-by military installation and a concentration of military retirees. In 2006 the per capita income in Otero County was $22,377 versus per capita income in New Mexico of $29,346. Initially its chief industry was timbering for barns ties.:1 The barns framers were also eager to found a primary town that would persist after the barns was completed; they formed the Alamogordo Improvement Company to precarious the area,:5 making Alamogordo an early example of a prepared community.
Tourism became an meaningful part of the small-town economy from the creation of White Sands National Monument in 1934.:53 Construction began on the Alamogordo Army Air Field (the present-day Holloman Air Force Base) in 1942, and the Federal government has been a strong existence in Alamogordo ever since.:39,53 Education has also been an meaningful part of the small-town economy.
In addition to the small-town school system, Alamogordo is home to the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, established in 1903, and a branch of New Mexico State University established in 1958.:44,58 The biggest non-government employer in the town/city is the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center with 650 employees in 2008. Holloman Air Force Base, positioned approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the town/city limits, is the biggest employer of Alamogordo residents, and has a primary effect on the small-town economy.
According to some estimates, Holloman accounts for half of the Alamogordo economy. According to the 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs office, as of January 2008 Holloman directly employs 6,111 personnel with a gross payroll of $266 million.
Its focus has generally been on job creation and recruiting and expanding businesses in Otero County, including helping them satisfy company regulations in New Mexico and lining up funding. Its part period in 2000, when Alamogordo passed an Economic Development Gross Receipts Tax.
A 1-800-Flowers call center opened in November 2001 and received $1.25 million in town/city rent abatements, a 50% reduction in property taxes from Otero County, and $940,000 in plant training funds from the State of New Mexico. A Sunbaked Biscuits cookie factory opened in 2006 and received $800,000 in job-training incentives from the state. When the business went out of company in 2007, Marietta Baking took over the cookie factory and received interest-free loans, job-training incentives, and partial forgiveness of indebtedness for job creation. A branch office of Pre - Check Inc., a business performing background checks of health-care workers, opened in 2006.
Pre - Check received $2.4 million in high-wage job creation tax credits, $1.5 million in job-training subsidies, $1.5 million in capital outlay cash for roads and infrastructure, a $625,000 allocation from City of Alamogordo for upgrading sewage lines in the area, and 20.8 aces of territory from Heritage Group, a developer. New buildings in Alamogordo: Pre - Check, Inc.
The Otero County Film Office, an office of Otero County Economic Development Council, promotes film-making in Otero County by publicizing potential locations in the county and New Mexico's film financial incentive programs and by recruiting extras for film productions.
It sponsors the Desert Light Film Competition for middle and high school students to encourage learning about the film industry. The 2007 film Transformers spent $5.5 million in New Mexico and $1 million in Alamogordo. Alamogordo Music Theatre produces two musical productions annually at the Flickinger Center for Performing Arts.
The NMSU-A Theatre on the Hill produces an annual spring performance for young audiences at the Rohovec Fine Arts Center on the New Mexico State University at Alamogordo campus, and an annual Fall performance for general audiences. Otero County Fair is held annually in early August at the County Fairgrounds at the corner of White Sands Boulevard and Fairgrounds Road in Alamogordo.
The Cottonwood Arts and Crafts Festival is put on each Labor Day Weekend in Alameda Park by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce.
Grave of Ham the Chimp astronaut at the New Mexico Museum of Space History New Mexico Museum of Space History is a science exhibition covering space flight New Mexico Museum of Space History is a state exhibition with the International Space Hall of Fame. Alamogordo Museum of History (formerly Tularosa Basin Historical Society Museum) collects artifacts related to the history of Alamogordo and the Tularosa Basin.
It is a private exhibition, directed by the Tularosa Basin Historical Society. Among notable items in the compilation is a 47-star US Flag; New Mexico was the 47th state admitted to the Union, and US flags were made with 47 stars only for one month, until Arizona was admitted. The Museum shop has a large compilation of small-town history books.
In 1977 in Albuquerque, they held the conference that resulted in the 1978 study of the Shroud with more scientists from New Mexico than any other state.
The Alamogordo Desert Dawgs are an amateur football team formed in 2008. They are part of the New Mexico Football Alliance. The Desert Dawgs are organized as a limited liability business owned by Kenneth Mitchell, and have small-town sponsors underwriting costs. The team has an agreement with Alamogordo Public Schools by which the Desert Dawgs practice and play home games at Alamogordo High School's Tiger Stadium and the school precinct receives 20% of the home gate. Tiger Stadium is nicknamed "The Dawg Pound" when the Desert Dawgs play there. Several of the team members are airmen from close-by Holloman Air Force Base. The White Sands Pup - Fish were the first ever experienced baseball team in Alamogordo.
It is an adult tournament that raises cash for scholarships for Alamogordo High School students. The Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament is a nationwide program that holds a tournament in Alamogordo each year in May.
Prior to 2008 it was hosted by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce, and since then by the City of Alamogordo. The City receives 72% of the entry fees and 5% of the gross proceeds taken in by vendors. The event is held annually at Washington Park in conjunction with Saturday in the Park and Armed Forces Day. In 2009 more than 233 squads participated in the tournament. Several golf tournaments are held each year at Desert Lakes Golf Course, including the Robert W.
Alamogordo has various small parks scattered through the city, and a several larger ones.
City Hall and a several other town/city buildings are positioned in the park. At the north end of the park is Kids Kingdom, a children's play region with a enormous jungle gym.
The Alamogordo Family Recreation Center, at 1100 Oregon Avenue, is a city-owned facility offering a weight room, swimming pool (open cyclicly), and basketball gym.
There are outside tennis courts north of the building. The Alamogordo Senior Center is a town/city facility for senior people that provides a civil center and an exercise room and serves congregate meals and Meals on Wheels. National Monument, is positioned about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Alamogordo along U.S.
The region is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley region and comprises the southern part of a 275-square-mile (710 km2) field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. The Lincoln National Forest, whose command posts are in Alamogordo, is a mountainous region that starts about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Alamogordo and offers hiking, fishing, and camping. The Sidney Paul Gordon Shooting Range, positioned about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of town at 19 Rock Cliff Road in La Luz, is a supervised range with rifle, pistol, and archery ranges.
Alamogordo City Hall homes most of the town/city government administrative functions, as well as the Commission Chambers and the Municipal Court Alamogordo was incorporated in 1912.:136 It is a charter town/city (also called a home rule town/city ), and the charter is encompassed as Part I of the Code of Ordinances. It has a Council-manager government form of government (called Commission/Manager in New Mexico).:Article II There are seven town/city commissioners, each propel from a precinct within the city, on staggered 4-year terms.:Article VII The town/city manager is considered the chief executive officer of the town/city and is tasked to enforce and implement the City Council's directives and policy. The mayor is a member of the City Council.
Alamogordo's fiscal year ends on June 30 each year; thus Fiscal Year 2008 runs from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008.
Deutsche Schule, a school for kids of German Air Force service members and employees at the German Air Force Flying Training Center at Holloman Air Force Base New Mexico State University Alamogordo is a two-year improve college established in 1958.
As of 2016, it has approximately 1,800 students. There are two high schools, three middle schools, and 11 elementary schools in the Alamogordo Public School District. Prior to 2008 there were two private schools in Alamogordo: Legacy Christian Academy and Father James B.
The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a state school positioned in Alamogordo. Alamogordo Public Library serves Alamogordo and Otero County. The library at New Mexico State University Alamogordo is also open to the public. The chief journal in Alamogordo is Alamogordo Daily News (ADN), owned by Media - News Group.
ADN is presented six days a week; on Monday, when it does not appear, subscribers receive the El Paso Times. ADN also prints Hollogram, a no-charge weekly journal distributed at the close-by Holloman Air Force Base and covering happenings on base. There are no alternative newspapers presented in Alamogordo but The Ink, a no-charge Las Cruces monthly journal devoted to the arts, is distributed in the city. The town/city government prints City Profile, a monthly print newsletter that is mailed to all homeholds in the town/city and is presented electronically on the town/city web site, and Communique, a blog with town/city news. KLAG has a gospel music radio format and some live coverage of small-town events, including many remote broadcasts from civic affairs. KALH-LP is a low-power FM station that carries a range radio format, network news on the hour, and small-town news on some hours. Neither station is an NPR affiliate.
Several primary motion pictures were filmed in or near Alamogordo.
The 2007 film Transformers was shot primarily at White Sands Missile Range, with additional recording at Holloman Air Force Base, both in the Alamogordo area. Its 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen also prominently featured these two military bases. The 2009 film Year One was shot partly at White Sands National Monument, near Alamogordo. Alamogordo was one of the fourteen metros/cities profiled in the 2005 documentary 14 Days in America. The Otero County Film Office maintains a list of films shot partly or wholly in Alamogordo and Otero County.
In May 2013, Alamogordo's City Commission allowed a deal for Canada-based film manufacturing company Fuel Industries to excavate the Atari landfill site. Fuel Entertainment partnered with Xbox Entertainment Studios and Lightbox to make a documentary about the 1983 massive game burial of Atari games, said to be one of the gaming culture's greatest urban legends.
On April 26, 2014, video game archaeologists began sifting through years of trash from the old Alamogordo landfill. The first batch of E.T.
Games was identified after about three hours of digging, and hundreds more were found in the mounds of trash and dirt scooped by a backhoe. In the deal between the City of Alamogordo and Fuel Entertainment regarding the excavation, Fuel Entertainment was to be given 250 games or 10 percent of what was found. The primary intercity surface routes from Alamogordo are U.S.
Route 54 in a southwestern direction towards Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands National Monument, White Sands Missile Range, and Las Cruces.
Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport is the municipal airport positioned in the Alamogordo area.
It is primarily used for general aviation. There is no longer scheduled commercial service from New Mexico Airlines, previously directed under a subsidy from the Essential Air Service program. Greyhound Lines offers intercity bus service to Alamogordo. There is daily shuttle van service between Alamogordo and El Paso International Airport. Z-Trans is the mass transit system, providing paratransit and scheduled service inside the town/city center and to White Sands Mall, Holloman Air Force Base and Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero.
The Alamogordo town/city government is building a network of bike routes and walking routes.
More knowledge and maps are in the Alamogordo Comprehensive Plan.:42 44 The New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association operates a Rails to Trails universal to convert old barns beds to walking trails.
Electric power is supplied inside the town/city by PNM Resources. PNM also provides electrical power in the Tularosa Basin, while Otero County Electric Cooperative, a member cooperative of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and of Touchstone Energy, serves other areas of the county. Natural gas is supplied inside the town/city by New Mexico Gas Company. Severn Trent operates both the water and sewage treatment facilities for the City of Alamogordo.
Severn Trent maintains all water storage facilities, booster pump stations, town/city wells and treats the waste water to be re-used by the town/city to water the parks, Desert Lakes Golf Course and is sold to assembly companies for dust control.
Alamogordo has a dark sky ordinance to reduce the amount of light pollution in the evening skies.:Article 31 The ordinance was passed in 1990 to promote the expansion and scientific productivity of Apache Point Observatory. City streetlights are high-pressure sodium vapor lamps. Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center serves Alamogordo and Holloman Air Force Base Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is a private not-for-profit 99-bed general hospital that serves the Alamogordo area.
New Mexico is near the bottom of most nationwide rankings, for example it was 38th in the United Health Foundation 2007 report, but has been slowly grade (it was 40th in 2005). When health-promoting features are considered, freshwater the healthiness of the population, Alamogordo is ranked as one of the 50 healthiest places to live in the United States, among six in New Mexico.:frontispiece :116 118 Civic boosters such as the Chamber of Commerce publicize this ranking. Among scientists, Edward Condon, a physicist and a past director of National Institute of Standards and Technology, was born in Alamogordo. Alan Hale, an astronomer and co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, interval up in Alamogordo and lives in close-by Cloudcroft. Mechem, a past governor and United States Senator from New Mexico, was born in Alamogordo, as was Cindy Chavez, a past member of the San Jose, California City Council. Alexis Duprey, crowned Miss New Mexico in 2013 and again in 2015, is from Alamogordo.
Mai Shanley, who became Miss USA 1984, represented the town/city as Miss New Mexico USA.
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Municipalities and communities of Otero County, New Mexico, United States State of New Mexico
Categories:
Alamogordo, New Mexico - 1898 establishments in New Mexico Territory - Tularosa Basin - County seats in New Mexico - Cities in Otero County, New Mexico - Micropolitan areas of New Mexico - Populated places established in 1898
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