Roswell, New Mexico
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Roswell is a city in Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, USA. The population was 45,293 at the 2000 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute, founded in 1891. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River.
In the 1930s Roswell was a site for much of Robert Goddard's early rocketry work. It is also the birthplace of actress Demi Moore, musician John Denver and Hall of Fame jockey Mike E. Smith. A Golf Hall of Famer, Nancy Lopez, was raised in Roswell (though born in California). A Hall of Famer astronaut, sixth man on the moon Edgar Mitchell, went to school in Roswell. Roger Staubach (later of the Dallas Cowboys) played football at NMMI, and Lewis Lloyd (later of the Houston Rockets) played basketball there.
Roswell is most popularly known for having its name attached to what is now called the 1947 Roswell UFO incident, even though the actual crash site was about 75 miles from Roswell. However, the investigation and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field.
Geography
Roswell is located at 33° 23' 14" North, 104° 31' 41" West (33.387160, -104.528116)[Geographic references#1GR1].According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.0 km² (29.0 mi²). 75.0 km² (28.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.07%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 45,293 people, 17,068 households, and 11,742 families residing in the city. The population density was 604.3/km² (1,565.2/mi²). There were 19,327 housing units at an average density of 257.9/km² (667.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.96% White, 2.47% African American, 1.28% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 21.29% from other races, and 3.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44.34% of the population.There were 17,068 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,252, and the median income for a family was $31,724. Males had a median income of $26,554 versus $21,408 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,589. About 18.7% of families and 22.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.1% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.
History
The first non-indigenous settlers of the area around Roswell were a group of pioneers from Missouri who attempted to start a settlement 15 miles southwest of what is now Roswell in 1865 but were forced to abandon the site because of a lack of water.Van C. Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn, established two adobe buildings in 1869 that grew into what is now Roswell. The two buildings became the settlement's first general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests. In 1871, Smith filed a claim with the federal government for the land around the buildings, and on August 20, 1873, he became the town's first postmaster. He called the town Roswell, after his father's first name. Roswell was originally established in Lincoln County. In 1887, changed to Chaves County. The Roswell, NM Post Office uses ZIP code 88201.
In 1877, Captain Joseph Calloway Lea and his family bought out Smith and Wilburn's claim and became the owners of most of the land of Roswell and the region surrounding it. The town was relatively quiet during the Lincoln County War (1877-1879). A major aquifer was discovered on the Nathan Jaffa Ranch near town in 1891, resulting in the area's first major growth and development spurt. The growth continued when a railroad was built through town in 1893.
During World War II, a prisoner of war camp was in operation in nearby Orchard Park. These prisoners of war were used to do major infrastructure work in Roswell, such as paving the banks of the North Spring River. Some German POWs used rocks or different sizes to create the outline of an iron cross among the stones covering the north bank. Some time after the iron cross was covered, with a thin layer of concrete. Some time in the eighties, the crew cleaning the river bed cleared off the concrete and revealed the outline. The small park just south of the cross was known as Iron Cross Park. On November 11, 1996 the park was named POW/MIA park. The same park has a piece of the Berlin Wall, presented to the City of Roswell by the Luftwaffe, on display.
In the early 1980s, a major manufacturer, TMC, which produced buses opened a factory in Roswell. The factory has been opened and closed repeatedly, resulting in cyclical swings of unemployment. TMC stopped building buses. Novabus started to used the same buildings to manufacture buses but also closed.
Roswell was a location of military importance from 1941 to 1967, at which time the local air force base (named Walker Air Force Base) was decommissioned. After the closure of the base, Roswell capitalized on its pleasant climate and reinvented itself as a retirement community. Roswell has benefited from interest in the alleged UFO incident, and in more recent times the business community has deliberately sought out tourists interested in UFOs.
1947 Roswell UFO incident
- Main article: Roswell UFO incident
In 1994, New Mexico Congressman Steven Schiff asked the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) to try to obtain relevant documents from the Air Force. The Air Force conducted their own investigation and declared it the crash of a Project Mogul balloon launched from Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Education
Public schools
- Roswell Independent School District
Private schools
- New Mexico Military Institute, includes 4-year high school and 2-year associate college degree programs.
- [Gateway Christian School], a pre-K through high school parochial school
Colleges
- Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, a branch of Eastern New Mexico University that is located in Portales, New Mexico. The Roswell campus offers several certificate, associate, bachelor's, & master's degree programs.
Transportation
Airport
- Roswell International Air Center, which is served by Mesa Airlines
Major highways
See also
- Roswell (TV series)
- [Roswell Independent School District Homepage]
- [Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell Homepage]
- Walker Air Force Base
External links
- [Roswell Museum & Art Center] - features Robert Goddard's rockets as well as art by Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd.
- [Roswell Chamber of Commerce]
- [Forbes article on Roswell]
- [Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art] - permanent collection of the artwork done by the 170+ artists of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program
- [Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program]
- [Roswell International UFO Museum & Research Center]
- [Spring River Zoo] - Roswell's Spring River Zoo, New Mexico's only free zoo.
- [Maps and aerial photos]
- * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
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