Village of Tularosa, New Mexico showing it's unique water system (acequia), beautiful church. #2

#New Mexico #Tularosa #National Register of Historic Places #village # acequia #Cottonwood Trees #lumanarias #art galleries #Apache #Mescalero Apache Reservation #adobe #church #St. Francis de Paula church #Battle of Round Mountain #Round Mountain #Veterans Memorial #War Memorial #Tularosa Basin #White Sands National Park #White Sands Missile Range #Holloman Air Force Base #windmill

Tularosa is located in South East New Mexico, 13 miles North of the city of Alamogordo or 81 miles North of Las Cruces, NM. It dates to 1863, and is named for the Spanish name for the red or rose colored reeds growing along the Rio Tularosa. Originally settled by Hispanic farmers from the Rio Grande Valley.

The water is what attracted the first settlers. It has a communal water system called an acequia, which survives virtually unchanged. An acequia consists of a ditch running along the road that the residents can divert water from to water gardens, tree and landscaping. Huge Cottonwood Trees have grown up around the church because of the water.

Early attempts to settle the area were thwarted by the local Apaches, until a skirmish at Round Mountain about 10 miles North East of town. The settlers had promised that if no one was killed in the battle, they would build a church honoring St. Francis. They kept their promise, and a very nice looking church it is.

The town has a Christmas Eve tradition of lining the main road through town, highway 70, with hundreds lumanarias. Those consist of small paper bags with some sand it the bottom for weight, and a candle inside. It is quite a sight on Christmas Eve after dark!

Bob Dylan mentions the village in his song Billy #4. The verse is "Gypsy queens will play your grand finale way down in some Tularosa Alley".
It has also made appearances in movies and books.