Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell is a city located in Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 45,293. 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.

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.

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Van 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 in 1874, he became the town's first postmaster. He called the town Roswell, after his father's first name.

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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.

Related Topics:
Joseph Calloway Lea - Lincoln County War - Aquifer

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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 Lufwaffe, on display.

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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.

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Roswell was also chosen as a campaign stop for George W. Bush's 2004 campaign, thanks to its strong Republican leanings.

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