Las Vegas, NM (Plaza Park + Bridge Street)
- 14 years ago
Whether touring on foot, or by bicycle, car or bus, Las Vegas, New Mexico provides the visitor with an architectural experience perhaps unparalleled in the Great American Southwest.
From the indigenous adobe architecture of New Mexico to machine-age International Style, Las Vegas boasts excellent examples of nearly every important architectural residential style built in the United States between 1840 and 1940.
Las Vegas continues to fascinate not only for its architecture, but for its unique city planning. The Old Town Plaza was established on high ground above the Gallinas River for irrigation purposes; the area that is now Bridge Street and Moreno, San Juan and Valencia Streets was used by settlers to grow crops. Streets in Old Town radiate from the Plaza like spokes of a wheel.They tended to follow natural features of the land such as arroyos, hills and cow trails. The Las Vegas Plaza, with these characteristics intact, is probably the best preserved in New Mexico.
From the indigenous adobe architecture of New Mexico to machine-age International Style, Las Vegas boasts excellent examples of nearly every important architectural residential style built in the United States between 1840 and 1940.
Las Vegas continues to fascinate not only for its architecture, but for its unique city planning. The Old Town Plaza was established on high ground above the Gallinas River for irrigation purposes; the area that is now Bridge Street and Moreno, San Juan and Valencia Streets was used by settlers to grow crops. Streets in Old Town radiate from the Plaza like spokes of a wheel.They tended to follow natural features of the land such as arroyos, hills and cow trails. The Las Vegas Plaza, with these characteristics intact, is probably the best preserved in New Mexico.