Las Trampas, New Mexico

Las Trampas Historic District
View of the Las Trampas Historic District.
Location On State Road 76, Las Trampas, New Mexico
Coordinates 36°7′57″N 105°45′48″W / 36.13250°N 105.76333°W / 36.13250; -105.76333Coordinates: 36°7′57″N 105°45′48″W / 36.13250°N 105.76333°W / 36.13250; -105.76333
Area 1,000 acres (400 ha)
Built 1850 (1850)
Architectural style Colonial, Spanish Colonial
NRHP reference # 67000007[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 28, 1967
Designated NHLD May 28, 1967[2]

Las Trampas or just Trampas (Spanish: "traps"), is a small unincorporated town in Taos County, northern New Mexico, the Southwestern United States. Founded in 1751, its center retains the original early Spanish colonial defensive layout from that time, as well as the 18th-century San José de Gracia Church, one of the finest surviving examples of Spanish Colonial church architecture in the United States. The village center was designated a National Historic Landmark District (the Las Trampas Historic District) in 1967.[2]

Geography

Las Trampas is located on the scenic High Road to Taos (New Mexico State Road 76) in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. it is approximately halfway between Santa Fe to the south and Taos to the north.

The town has a post office, with the ZIP code 87576; the US Postal Service prefers the name "Trampas".[3] No ZIP Code Tabulation Area information for 87576 is available from Census 2000.

View of Trampas and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 1943.

History

Las Trampas was founded in 1751 by twelve Spanish families from Santa Fe. The small community consisted of little more than the central plaza, ringed by houses, which were surrounded by a low adobe wall. The village flourished despite attacks from Native Americans, and by 1776 there were 278 inhabitants recorded. The village remained largely isolated, except for travelers on the mountain road, until the 1920s.[4]

The town is well known for the San José de Gracia Church, built between 1760 and 1776 and considered a model of the adobe colonial Spanish missions in New Mexico.

Historic district

The Las Trampas Historic Historic District, designated in 1967, encompasses the central village, whose buildings largely follow the plan originally laid out in 1751. Most of the buildings themselves date to the 19th century, often with late 19th-century alterations. The church, itself a National Historic Landmark for its architecture, is the only surviving 18th-century building. The original defensive wall that surrounded the village has been removed, and no significant traces of it remain.[2][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "National Historic Landmarks Survey, New Mexico" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ 87576 data
  4. 1 2 Charles W. Snell (May 1, 1968). "National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings: Las Trampas Plaza Historic District" (pdf). National Park Service.
    Accompanying 19 photos of place and people, one dated 1980 others undated (32 KB)
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