Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
The Princess Drive-In, built some time in the 1940s. Up until the late 50s or so, THE PLACE to hang. In the last 15 years, it has been opened and closed by many owners.
No one seems to know who designed and built the sign. But it’s so iconic, it has endured all the travails of the property.
“Famous for Tacos” — when you whipped-in with your ’55 Chevy, it was tacos and a coke — not burgers. And maybe a little backseat bingo.
Tags: Las Cruces, Signs, Misc Images
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
July Sunset, Las Cruces.
Tags: Las Cruces
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
Al’s Garage — a wonderful, effective sign without the semiotic overhead that bashes its way into our subconscious in at every turn. Sadly, the effect is spoiled by the ubiquitous logoistic sign painted on the front (logo overkill).
Tags: Las Cruces, Misc Images
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
A squall lead by a rainbow blew across the East Mesa between Las Cruces and the Organs late this afternoon.
Tags: Organ Mountains, Weather
Sunday, April 22nd, 2007
The dust in the last few days has been bothersome, but for a real dust storm, consider this photo of New Mexico in 1935 — during the “Dust Bowl.”
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Tags: Weather
Saturday, April 14th, 2007
Strong winds today, from the West.
This is what the Organs looked like this afternoon with dust in the air.
Tags: Organ Mountains, Weather
Thursday, April 5th, 2007
The city of Las Cruces is considering the approval of a 1,703.9 acre subdivision on the East Mesa south of Hwy 70 called “The Vistas at Presidio II.”
Unknown to virtually everyone in Las Cruces, this block contains a marker built by Jarvis Garrett to memorialize the spot where his Dad was shot. Jarvis Garrett is the youngest son of Pat Garrett. Pat Garrett is the lawman who is most famous for having shot Billy the Kid.
A local organization called Friends of Pat Garrett has been formed “to ensure that the site where the death occurred is set aside for a memorial to Pat, and that the marker set up by Jarvis is retained and protected.” Their web site is:
FriendsOfPatGarrett.com
Here’s what the marker looks like:
Pat Garrett was shot February 28, 1908. You can see “Feb 1908” carved in the marker in this closeup:
Photos courtesy of Friends of Pat Garrett.
See also:
Billy the Kids’s Grave – New Book
Did Billy the Kid Stay at La Posta in Mesilla?
Saturday, March 24th, 2007
Las Cruces and Doña Ana County continue explosive growth. US Census Bureau estimates just released for 2006 put the number of people in the county as of July 1, 2006 at approximately 194,000.
This reflects a 2.4% growth for the year, the second highest for the state.
The effects of this growth are everywhere: new housing, new subdivisions, new roads — more traffic — commercial development, real estate price increases, multiplying resource demands.
A lot of the effects of growth are cultural. There is a clear clash between the traditional — one could say organic — ideas and values of this area and the ideas and values being imported. There is a distinct “California mindset” that is almost brutally in conflict with local culture.
Here are the population estimates in thousands for the last five years for Doña Ana County:
2002 – 179,000
2003 – 182,000
2004 – 185,000
2005 – 189,000
2006 – 194,000
In 1990, the population was 136,000.
Here’s the fact sheet for Doña Ana for 2005, the latest posted on the Census Bureau site. Among other things, it shows the medium age to be 31.7 years, the median family income to be $34,168, and the average time required to get to work as 17.3 minutes.
Tags: Las Cruces, Real Estate, Population, Average Income
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
The best bookstore in Las Cruces, and perhaps the best bookstore in NM, is Coas: My Bookstore.
Coas is a used bookstore with two city branches. The main branch is located in the Downtown Mall and has an inventory of over 450,000 books.
Here’s the main bookstore:
Here’s Downtown Mall side of the bookstore:
Some of the stacks:
The store was founded in 1984, initially as a publishing business, by Patrick H. Beckett, an archaeologist. According to the web site, “coas” means “digging stick” in Nahuatl, the Aztec language.
The store is open from 9:30am to 6pm Monday through Saturday, and 11am to 5pm Sunday.
Tags: Las Cruces, Bookstore, Main Street
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
As noted here, the Downtown Mall is the worst mistake in Las Cruces history.
Since its completion in 1974, there have been many attempts to make it more appealing to visitors. In 1996, the city commissioned Lea Anne and Tom Askman to create a series of sculptures for the Mall to commemorate El Camino Real.
Some images of the sculptures:
Tags: Downtown Mall, Lea Anne Askman, Tom Askman
