Alamogordo, New Mexico

Tularosa Basin has been inhabited for at least 11,000 years. There are signs of previous inhabitants in the area such as the Clovis culture, the Folsom culture, the peoples 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. In 1719, the Spanish built a chapel at La Luz (about from the future site of Alamogordo), although La Luz was not settled until about 1860. The city of Alamogordo was founded in June 1898, when the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, headed by Charles Bishop Eddy, extended the railway to the town. Charles Eddy's brother, John Arthur Eddy, named the new city. He created a neologism adapted from the Spanish words for "large/fat cottonwood" after a grove of stout cottonwoods he remembered from the Pecos River area. When Alamogordo was laid out in 1898, the east–west streets were given numerical designations, while north–south streets were named after states. The present-day White Sands Boulevard was then called Pennsylvania Avenue. In July 1941, the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range was established. The Post Office moved out in 1961, and the building was used by a succession of federal agencies and was known as the Federal Building. The last federal agency to occupy it was the United States Forest Service who used it as the headquarters of the Lincoln National Forest until October 2008, when that agency moved to a newly constructed building. In February 2009, ownership of the building was transferred to Otero County government and many government offices were moved from the Courthouse to its new Administration Building . In 1983, Atari, Inc. buried more than 700,000 unsold Atari 2600 video game cartridges in Alamogordo's landfill. Most notably, Atari discarded many copies of the unpopular E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This event was often believed to be an urban legend, until it was confirmed by Atari and excavations at the landfill. Alamogordo briefly made international news in late 2001 when Christ Community Church held a public book burning of books in the Harry Potter series, and several other series, on December 30. ==Geography==

As of 2010, Alamogordo had a total area of , all land. The city is located on the western flank of the Sacramento Mountains and on the eastern edge of the Tularosa Basin. It lies within the Rio Grande rift and in the northernmost part of the Chihuahuan Desert. Tectonic activity is low in the Tularosa Basin. Plants native to the area are typical of the southern New Mexico foothills and include creosote bush, mesquite, saltbush, cottonwood, desert willow, and many species of cactus and yucca. The Tularosa Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin; that is, no water flows out of it. Because of this and because of the geology of the region, water in the basin is hard: it has very high total dissolved solids concentrations, in excess of 3,000 mg/L. The Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility, a Bureau of Reclamation laboratory doing research and development on desalination of brackish water, is located in Alamogordo. The gypsum crystals of White Sands National Park are formed in Lake Lucero. Water drains from the mountains carrying dissolved gypsum and collects in Lake Lucero. After the water dries, the winds pick up the gypsum crystals and distribute them over the basin. with the coldest temperature recorded at Alamogordo being during a major cold wave on February 3, 2011. Snow is very rare, with a mean of no more than and a median very close to zero. The most snowfall in one month was in December 1960. ==Demographics==

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Alamogordo had a population of 30,898. The median age was 37.9 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.5 males age 18 and over. There were 13,377 households in Alamogordo, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.8% were married-couple households, 24.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 13,704 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.07. German community, 1992–2019 , a school for children of German Air Force service members and employees at the German Air Force Flying Training Center at Holloman Air Force Base Previously Alamogordo had a German community due to the presence of the German Air Force at Holloman Air Force Base; in 1992 that air force made Holloman its main pilot training center in the United States. Holloman was chosen due to its weather conditions. There was a subdivision called "Little Germany" with houses that had German-style electrical outlets. The Deutsche Schule Alamogordo educated German children, as did the local schools. Additionally area supermarkets had German cuisine. By 1999, there were about 1,110 German dependents and 900 German military personnel in Alamogordo. By 2003 there were about 2,000 Germans in Alamogordo. That year there were tensions between Americans and Germans since Germany chose not to join the U.S. in the Iraq War. Until the German Air Force left, Oktoberfest was celebrated annually in late September, hosted by the German Air Force at Holloman Air Force Base. The public was invited, and shuttle buses ran between Alamogordo and the base. ==Economy==

Alamogordo is the economic center of Otero County, with nearly half the Otero County population living within the city limits. Alamogordo today has very little manufacturing and has a primarily service and retail economy, driven by tourism, a large nearby military installation and a concentration of military retirees. a portion of the transcontinental railway that was being constructed in the late 19th century. Initially its main industry was timbering for railroad ties. Military impact Holloman Air Force Base, located approximately west of the city limits, is the largest employer of Alamogordo residents, and has a major effect on the local 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. It indirectly creates another 2,047 jobs with a payroll of $77 million. The estimated amount spent in the community, including payroll, construction projects, supplies, services, health care, and education, is $482 million. An estimated 6,700 military retirees live in the area. Counting both USAF and German Air Force personnel there are 1,383 active military and 1,641 military dependents living on base and 2,765 active military and 2,942 military dependents living off base. Future Combat Systems is a wide-ranging modernization project of the US Army. Much of the work will be done at Fort Bliss, with some at White Sands Missile Range and some at Holloman Air Force Base. Alamogordo is expected to get some economic benefit due to its proximity to these three bases. Economic development Otero County Economic Development Council is a nonprofit organization founded in 1984. Its focus has generally been on job creation and recruiting and expanding businesses in Otero County, including helping them satisfy business regulations in New Mexico and lining up funding. Its role expanded in 2000, when Alamogordo passed an Economic Development Gross Receipts Tax. OCEDC continues to work to attract businesses, but now it also helps develop the incentive packages that will be paid by the new tax, and a portion of the tax receipts go to fund OCEDC's operating expenses. Formal economic development plans have been adopted by Alamogordo and by Otero County. OCEDC has recruited several new employers by using financial incentives. A 1-800-Flowers call center opened in November 2001 and received $1.25 million in 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 company went out of business 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 PreCheck Inc., a company performing background checks of health-care workers, opened in 2006. PreCheck received $2.4 million in high-wage job creation tax credits, $1.5 million in job-training subsidies, $1.5 million in capital outlay money for roads and infrastructure, a $625,000 allocation from City of Alamogordo for upgrading sewer lines in the area, and 20.8 acres of land from Heritage Group, a developer. 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. ==Arts and culture==

There are two amateur theatrical groups 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. Annual cultural events The Earth Day Fair is held annually at Alameda Park Zoo. It features a butterfly release, a science fair, activities for children, and information booths from local health agencies and nonprofits. Otero County Fair is held annually at the County Fairgrounds. It features a rodeo, animal judging, food and game booths, and carnival rides. Nonprofit and government agencies set up information booths in the exhibit hall. The Cottonwood Arts and Crafts Festival is put on each Labor Day Weekend in Alameda Park by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce. It is primarily a showplace for vendors of handmade items, and also features music, entertainment, and food. White Sands Balloon Invitational is held annually. Hot air balloons launch from the Riner-Steinhoff Soccerplex and from White Sands National Park and float over the Tularosa Basin. Visitor attractions , a chimpanzee who in 1961 became the first great ape in space, at the New Mexico Museum of Space History New Mexico Museum of Space History is a state museum with the International Space Hall of Fame. Flickinger Center for Performing Arts is a 590-seat theater created in 1988 from a repurposed movie theater. It hosts concerts and live theatrical performances by touring groups, and is the venue for the local amateur group Alamogordo Music Theater. Alamogordo Museum of History collects artifacts related to the history of Alamogordo and the Tularosa Basin. It is a private museum, operated by the Tularosa Basin Historical Society. Among notable items in the collection 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 collection of local history books. The Historical Society also publishes its own series of monographs on local history, Pioneer. American Armed Forces Museum is a museum on U.S. Route 82 near Florida Avenue that opened in 2011. It collects and displays all kinds of military memorabilia from all wars and military engagements. The Shroud Exhibit And Museum, located in White Sands Mall, showcases a full-sized back-lit photographic transparency of the Shroud of Turin, a religious relic believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. They also feature a working VP8 Image Analyzer, the only one in the world where one can walk in and interact with this old analog computer. This town was founded the same year (1898) that Secundo Pia took the first photograph of the Shroud which started the modern investigation into the Shroud. This is highlighted in the museum. 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 displayed photograph was created from the 1978 photographs made by Barrie M. Schwortz as part of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). The displays include historical background materials, scientific information, kiosks with a variety of information, videos available for viewing and an exhibit of electronic image analysis of the shroud, among other interesting artifacts. The Alameda Park Zoo, the oldest zoo in the southwestern U.S., is located in the city. Several Union-Apache battles were fought near Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. The Toy Train Depot, New Mexico's first railroad museum and home of America's Park Ride Train Museum. A sculpture called "The World's Largest Pistachio" is at McGinn's PistachioLand along U.S. 54. ==Sports==

The Lady of the Mountain Run is held in December at the Griggs Sportsplex. The race consists of a half marathon, 10K, 5K, or corporate cup relay, and raises money for the needs-based Lady of the Mountain Scholarship Fund at NMSU-Alamogordo. Fun run/walks are popular in Alamogordo, although most are one-shot affairs put on as part of some larger event. One recurring event is Walk Out West, a walk held each October in Alameda Park Zoo. It incorporates a health fair, live music, and events for children. An offshoot of this is Dance Otero, an informal approach to ballroom dancing as a form of physical exercise that meets throughout the year. Both programs are run through Otero PATH, a local nonprofit that encourages preventive measures for good health. There are a number of annual sports events. The Tommy Padilla Memorial Basketball Tournament is an annual event held in March. It is an adult tournament that raises money for scholarships for Alamogordo High School students. The Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament is a national 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. In 2009 more than 233 teams participated in the tournament. Alamogordo's sole professional sports team is the White Sands Pupfish, a baseball team that played at Jim Griggs Field from 2011 to 2019, in the independent Pecos League, but did not play in a four-team, abridged 2020 season hosted in Houston due to pandemic concerns. ==Parks and recreation==

features southwestern animals. Alamogordo has numerous small parks scattered through the city, and a few larger ones. Some notable parks include: • Alameda Park is a city park lying on the west side of White Sands Boulevard between Tenth Street and Indian Wells Road. Most of the park is shaded by cottonwood trees. At the south end of the park is Alameda Park Zoo and at the north end is The Toy Train Depot, a railroad and toy train museum. • Washington Park is a city park in the center of town, bounded by Washington and Oregon Avenues and running from First Street to Indian Wells Road. City Hall and several other city buildings are located in the park. a children's play area with a giant jungle gym. • There are public athletic fields at the Jim R. Griggs Sports Complex, located at the corner of Florida Avenue and Fairgrounds Road, and the Travis C. Hooser Ballfield Complex (also called Walker Field) located at the corner of U.S. Route 70 and Walker Road. • The Alamogordo Senior Center is a city facility for senior citizens that provides a social center and an exercise room and serves congregate meals and Meals on Wheels. • Desert Lakes Golf Course is a city-owned golf course located at the south end of town on Hamilton Road at Desert Lakes Road. It is an 18-hole course. The clubhouse houses a restaurant and a pro shop. There is a PGA golf pro on duty at the course. Not inside the city but nearby are several national and state parks. Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is about 10 miles south on U.S. Route 54, offers camping, hiking, and picnicking. The Sidney Paul Gordon Shooting Range, located about north of town at 19 Rock Cliff Road in La Luz, is a supervised range with rifle, pistol, and archery ranges. Several competitions are held at the range each month. ==Government==

Alamogordo was incorporated in 1912. ), and the charter is included as Part I of the Code of Ordinances. It has a Council-manager government form of government (called Commission/Manager in New Mexico). The mayor is a member of the City Council. As of 2018, Richard Boss holds the position of mayor. Alamogordo's fiscal year ends on June 30 each year; thus Fiscal Year 2008 runs from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008. The FY 2008 budget projects income of $61,454,402 and expenditures of $73,655,777. Sources of City government income and their percentages of the whole were: gross receipts tax (31%), miscellaneous (23%), grants (22%), user fees (19%), and property tax (5%). ==Education==

New Mexico State University Alamogordo is a two-year community college established in 1958. As of 2016, it has approximately 1,800 students. There are two high schools (including the comprehensive Alamogordo High School), three middle schools, and 11 elementary schools in the Alamogordo Public School District. The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a state school located in Alamogordo. The German government formerly operated the Deutsche Schule Alamogordo (German School) for children of German Air Force personnel stationed at the German tactical training center at Holloman Air Force Base until the 2019 withdrawal of German forces. Following this, the aforementioned Imago Dei Academy purchased the building. Alamogordo Public Library serves Alamogordo and Otero County. The library at New Mexico State University Alamogordo is also open to the public. ==Media==

The main newspaper in Alamogordo is Alamogordo Daily News (ADN), owned by MediaNews Group. ADN is published six days a week; on Monday, when it does not appear, subscribers receive the El Paso Times. ADN also publishes Hollogram, a free weekly newspaper distributed at the nearby Holloman Air Force Base and covering happenings on base. There was no alternative newspapers published in Alamogordo but The Ink, a free Las Cruces monthly newspaper devoted to the arts, is distributed in the city. There is now however a free online paper operated as citizen journalism produced by 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News The city government publishes City Profile, a monthly print newsletter that is mailed to all households in the city and is published electronically on the city web site, and Communiqué, a blog with city news. One television station, KVBA-LD, broadcasts from Alamogordo. It has a religious format, and a weekly local news magazine broadcast Thursday through Saturday. Cable television service is provided by Baja Broadband. There are two commercial radio broadcast companies, WP Broadcasting and Burt Broadcasting; each operates several stations in several formats. There are two "listener-supported" radio stations that do not carry advertising but depend on sponsorships and donations. KLAG has a gospel music radio format and some live coverage of local events, including many remote broadcasts from civic events. KALH-LP is a low-power FM station that carries a variety radio format, network news on the hour, and local news on some hours. Neither station is an NPR affiliate. The local NPR outlet is KRWG-FM in Las Cruces, which reaches Alamogordo through a local relay transmitter. Several major motion pictures were filmed in or near Alamogordo. The 2007 film Transformers was shot primarily at White Sands Missile Range, with additional filming 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 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 approved a deal for Canada-based film production company Fuel Industries to excavate the Atari landfill site. Fuel Entertainment partnered with Xbox Entertainment Studios and Lightbox to make a documentary about the massive 1983 Atari video game burial, 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 discovered after about three hours of digging, 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. ==Infrastructure==

Major highways The major intercity surface routes from Alamogordo are U.S. Highways 54, 70, and 82, all of which are four-lane roads. The major north–south street within the city is White Sands Boulevard. The Charlie T. Lee Memorial Relief Route, which is designated as U.S. Route 54 and 70, is a bypass road constructed to the west of the city in 2001 to relieve congestion on White Sands Boulevard. U.S. Route 70 and U.S. Route 54 traverses through the north and south ends of the city. There is no longer scheduled commercial service from New Mexico Airlines, previously operated under a subsidy from the Essential Air Service program. In 2008, Greyhound Lines offered intercity bus service to Alamogordo. As of 2017, there was a daily shuttle van service between Alamogordo and El Paso International Airport. Z-Trans is the mass transit system, providing paratransit and scheduled service within the city center and to White Sands Mall, Holloman Air Force Base and Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero. Z-Trans is unusual in that it is privately owned (by Zia Therapy Center, a non-profit), although it does get some local and state subsidies. Union Pacific provides railroad freight services. Currently there is no intercity passenger train service. As of 2003, the Alamogordo city government was building a network of bike routes and walking routes. More information and maps are in the Alamogordo Comprehensive Plan. In 2005, the New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association operated a Rails to Trails project to convert old railroad beds to walking trails. Its trail system in Otero County, the Cloud Climbing Rail Trail, is planned to eventually surround Alamogordo. Utilities Electric power is supplied within the city by PNM Resources. Natural gas is supplied within the city by New Mexico Gas Company. Alamogordo has a dark sky ordinance to reduce the amount of light pollution in the night skies. City streetlights are high-pressure sodium vapor lamps. Healthcare Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is a private not-for-profit 99-bed general hospital that serves the Alamogordo area. The hospital is a shared military/civilian facility that is also the hospital for nearby Holloman Air Force Base. The Otero County Community Health Council prepares a detailed health profile each year with many facts and figures about health in Otero County. Otero County is ranked in the middle of most health rankings within the state. New Mexico is near the bottom of most national rankings; for example, it was 38th in the United Health Foundation 2007 report, but has been slowly improving (it was 40th in 2005). ==Notable people==

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, grew up in Alamogordo and lives in nearby Cloudcroft. Among politicians, Edwin L. Mechem, a past governor and United States Senator from New Mexico, was born in Alamogordo, as was Cindy Chavez, a past member of the city council of San Jose, California. Monica Kim Garza is a painter who was born in Alamogordo. Edward Lee Howard, a former CIA case agent who allegedly gave classified material to the Russians and later defected to the Soviet Union, was an Alamogordo native. In sports, professional soccer player Adam Frye, jockey Donna Barton Brothers, and former professional American football cornerback Conrad Hamilton were all born in Alamogordo. Professional golf brothers Brad and Bart Bryant are from Alamogordo. Alexis Duprey, crowned Miss New Mexico in 2013 and again in 2015, is from Alamogordo. Mai Shanley, who became Miss USA 1984, represented the city as Miss New Mexico USA. The lead singer of the 2020 Grammy-nominated Black Pumas, Eric Burton, grew up in Alamogordo and graduated from Alamogordo High School. ==References==