Las Vegas

For ninety years there were two of it. When the Santa Fe railroad arrived on July 4, 1879, it put its station a mile east of the plaza, across the Gallinas River, and a separate railroad town grew up there on a grid, mostly Anglo newcomers facing the older Hispano town across the water. East Las Vegas went its own way until voters consolidated the two in 1970, and they still keep two school districts. The 2020 census counted 13,166 people. A 1910 Daughters of the American Revolution trail stone stands beside this board.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Las Vegas Population 16,507 - Elevation 6,470 Las Vegas served as an important stop on the Santa Fe Trail and later as a major railroad center. Here General Kearny announced the annexation of New Mexico by the U.S. in 1846. In 1862, dur- ing the Confederate occupation of Santa Fe, Las Vegas served as a Territorial capital. New Mexico Highlands University was estab- lished here in 1893.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Montezuma Castle — 4.6 mi
  The railroad's turreted resort at the Las Vegas hot springs, burned twice in its first years, empty for most of a century, and now home to an international school.
• Fort Union National Monument — 22 mi
  Three forts in one prairie valley where the two branches of the Santa Fe Trail met: a log post, a star-shaped earthwork, and an adobe supply town that fed the army's wars.

More markers nearby

• Dr. Meta L. Christy — 1.7 mi
• Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert — 1.7 mi
• Hogbacks — 7.4 mi
• Fort Union National Monument — 12 mi