News From The Tularosa Basin Historical Society Volume 17, No 2 Summer 2012 La Laz Pottery Donation The HARVEY GIRLS of El Paso, Texas The Tularosa Basin Historical Society recently had the fantastic opportunity to be the recipient of an anonymous donation in the form of the very historical La Luz Pottery, located in the Laborcita Canyon are near La Luz, NM. This wonderful donation includes all of the original pottery factory buildings, grazing lands of the surrounding area and water rights to a considerable volume of water that presently serves the Alamogordo area and residents. The pottery factory was founded by Roland Hazzard (of Rhode Island family heritage) as he was journeying in the late 1920's from RI to California. continued on page 3 The Harvey Girls of El Paso, Texas will be our summer membership presentation. Remember the movie with Judy Garland in the Harvey Girls, well El Paso had a Harvey House Restaurant that was in operation from 1906-1948. And though Alamogordo did not have a Harvey House Restaurant, we did have the Hotel Alamogordo located on the southeast corner of 10th Street and Delaware Avenue (Bank 34 Site) that was established by a Col. J.F. Harvey, a likely relative of Fred Harvey. Here the rail travelers were encouraged to stay at this lovely hotel in the early 1900 s. The Harvey Girls of El Paso are a group of dedicated continued on page 4 What s Inside TBHS Museum Happenings....2 Volunteer News... 3 Message from the President... 3 Program Presentation....1 & 4 Museum Store...5 Supporting TBHS... 5 Membership Form... 5 Tularosa Basin Historical Society Presents Harvey Girls of El Paso Luncheon Program, June 16, 2012. 19th Hole Grill & Restaurant 2351 Hamilton Road, Alamogordo, NM Luncheon and Program at 11:30AM. Tickets Available at the Museum, $17.50/single or $35/couple Call Alamogordo Museum of History, 575-434-4438, For Reservations
PAGE 2 NE WS FROM THE TULAROSA BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIE TY VOLUME 1 7, NO 2 Museum Happenings Museum Attendance Figures January 473 February 335 March 454 April 430 Museum Outreach Attendees Dec. Member Meeting 55 Centennial Prog. 175 F117 Program 59 Memorial Donations Robin Joy Anthony Dusty the Vietnam Nurse Wayne Mattson Charles Rodgers Additions to the Collection We thank all donors for their interest and their trust in giving these items for the preservation of the history of Otero County and the Tularosa Basin. Since our last Newsletter we have received over 45 items to add to our Collections. With this volume and the small space below we are just listing some of those rather than a complete list. Dori Webb Alamogordo Pilar Murray Alamogordo Suzanne & Gordon Booth Alamogordo Vickie & Henry Clark Tularosa Jim & Sharon Hamilton High Rolls Robert Wright Canyon, Tx Claudia Powell High Rolls Cindy Bagwell Alamogordo Barbara Moore Alamogordo Don Holub Alamogordo James Greebo Alamogordo Doreen Inman Alamogordo Honorary Donations David Hudson Townsend Shirley Rabon Mamie Stidham Operating Fund Donations Donation By Allene Lyon Recent items that have been added: - St. Jude Mission Church Directory, 2009 - NMSU-A Campus Directory 1998 -Five Photos (View of Plaza Complex, Aerial View of Plaza Complex, Plaza Café & Service Station, Plaza Bar (back bar 1940), photo of Gil Gordon. - 1942 Coast Guard Uniform & Hat, and wedding dress. - 1978 Zip Code Directory - Old ax, hand saw, hand scale, singer sewing ad cards and 2 political photos.
VOLUME 1 7, NO 2 NE WS FROM THE TULAROSA BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIE TY PAGE 3 Dear Members Message from the President So many things are happening at the museum and with the Plaza, that there are days when it is a bit overwhelming. Our volunteers and curator need to be thanked for fielding calls and questions regarding the plaza as well as performing their regular duties. TBHS is pursing the process of having the plaza listed on the N.M Register of Historic Buildings. This was no easy task and many thanks go out to Jean Killer, Josette Herrell and Pete McKown. They all did such a marvelous job of pulling together and getting the needed information to Santa Fe. Anyone can attend this hearing which will take place in Santa Fe on June 8 th at the State Capitol, Room 311, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, at 1PM. Because there have been so many articles in the paper, some accurate and other not quite so, we must all respond with civility and respect when approached by someone who has a different viewpoint about the plaza It has been interesting to hear many community citizens who have spoken up about saving the building. If we can indeed save the building, this is just the first step to a long process of turning the plaza into a museum... so stay with us. Museum happenings: Our membership has increased and I urge all of you to bring in one new member during our summer months. Membership dues for TBHS help us promote museum activities and provides us a funding source for museum expenses. Once again, I cannot state how fortunate and thankful we are to have such a dedicated group of docents and volunteers. Each day docents open our museum, clean and care for artifacts, help visitors with research and add thousands of photographs to disks. Have a wonderful summer and come visit us at the museum HELP WANTED Volunteers! If you are interested in these positions, please contact the museum at 434-4438. Volunteer Support Volunteer Hours Hours March April May 322 Hours by 17 volunteers 350 hours by 12 volunteers 437 hours by 15 volunteers Volunteers continued from page 1 Fortunately for us his car had mechanical problems which forced him to spend some time in La Luz, NM. While waiting for repairs, he began to explore the area and soon found that the soil (specifically clay) near the mouth of the canyon contained very high grade soil qualities for pottery making. This lead to the founding of the pottery factory development which is part of the big picture of pottery making in the US from the teens thru the 1940's with such leading names as Roseville, Rookwood, Weller, Bauer, Van Briggle, etc. Today, this pottery, in the antiques world, can be worth thousands of dollars. The Historical Society has just begun evaluating this very large donation and are in the process of making plans as to how best to use this site for museum and public purposes. We have conducted some tours and do plan to open some of the buildings for various activities. In the months to come we look forward to sharing our thoughts and hope to see strong participation and support from our members. If you are interested in participating either with financial donations (there will be expenses to maintain this property) or with docent functions we look forward to hearing from you, please call the Museum at 434-4438. ################# Museum helpers needed: Staff for the various committees Staff to support Centennial functions. Remember: museum helper work is done within your own schedule. Elizabeth M. Padilla, President
PAGE 4 NE WS FROM THE TULAROSA BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIE TY VOLUME 1 6 ISSUE 4 Railroads continued from p.1 volunteer ladies committed to preserving the history of Fred Harvey, the famous Harvey Girls and, the Santa Fe Railroad. Learn about Fred Harvey s dream of railroad hospitality, adventure, excitement, employment opportunities for women, fine food and dining, old west tourism, Santa Fe Railroad and civilization of the West. El Paso s Harvey House Restaurant operated 1906-1948. The program will range from 30-45 minutes, depending on questions/ answers. The presenters will answers. be in authentic The Program Victorian will be presented traveling in Ladies dress, sented and Harvey Girl uniforms. Janie is There author will of be a over large 8 of table the PIONEER of display items publications for viewing. of TBHS and her most The recent program PIONEER will take is Lulu place to Lassos, at the the Bill 19th Trammell Story. The story is about one of our well Hole Grill & Restaurant, Alamogordo, known residents NM. of the It Basin, a his luncheon family s starting begin- at will be 11:30AM nings, coming with from program Dodgeville, follow. AL, then Tickets Texas can and be to purchased finally New Mexico. at the Bill s History life growing up in the Museum, the price will 1903 s in NM, particularly be beginning $17.50 in for Lulu, a single NM, on or $35. the Otero for a Mesa. couple. The re-thgion covered entrée in the is publi- grilled main chicken cations is breast all with various vegetable choices ooof the Bsin from the and dessert. We look Mescalero forward to seeing you. V Vi (photo: Railroad Depot 1899 in Alamogordo) NM) Special Books in our Museum Store We have added several new publications as well as some special titles that have been long out of print. The two books that have been added to our store that have not been available for some time are: Editor, Linnie L Townsend; Things Remembered Alamogordo, New Mex ico 1898-1 9 9 8, I n s t y Prints of Alamogordo, Alamogordo, NM 1998. Support the Tularosa Basin Historical Society and the Alamogordo Museum of History Financial Donations When you donate money to TBHS, you can do so in honor or memory of someone or as a straight donation. You can also specify if it is to support general operations or be put toward the building fund to help with the renovation of the Plaza Building, future home of the Alamogordo Museum of History. Shop at the Museum Gift Next time you need a gift, please remember to shop at the Museum Gift Shop. There are a wide variety of books on local and regional history, cook books, and children books. Revenue from sales supports the museum s operations. M r s. T o m Charles, Tales of the Tularosa. (Digital reproduction of the original edition of 1953) This is a centennial project. 2012. Other titles that have been added are listed on page 5 of this Newsletter.
VOLUME 1 6 ISSUE 4 NE WS FROM THE TULAROSA BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIE TY PAGE 5 Our Museum Store New Titles Available Centennial Publications Melzer, Richard; Fred Harvey Houses Townsend, David; The 47th of the Southwest, Arcadia Publishing, Star. Print Plus, Alamogordo Charleston, SC., 2008. NM, 2012 Recko, Corey; Murder on the White Godly, Christina Duran; Two Sands, U of N Texas, Denton, TX; Memories. Print Plus, Alamo- 2007. gordo, NM, 2012 Hillerman, Tony; The Great Taos Eddy, John Arthur; Two Letters Bank Robbery, UNM Press, Albu- Print Plus, Alamogordo, NM, querque, NM, 2012. 2012. Edited by Baker H. Morrow; A Harvest Shinabery, M.; Two Railroad Of Reluctant Souls. UNM Press, Memories. Print Plus, Alamo- Albuquerque, NM, 1996. gordo, NM, 2012. Prelo, Vivana Duran; Art and Memories. Print Plus, Alamogordo, NM, 2012. To: The Tularosa Basin Historical Society Yes, I am pleased to help support the Alamogordo Museum of History Enclosed is my Tax deductible gift of: $25 $50 $100 $500 other $ Name for Operating Fund for Building Fund Make your check our to TBHS. Or your contribution can also be made by Credit Card Address Phone number Master Card Visa Card Number Is Donation in Honor or Memory of Someone? Yes No Expiration date If yes, name Can we use your name in our next newsletter and other publicity? Yes No
Tularosa Basin Historical Society 1301 N. White Sands Blvd. Alamogordo, NM 88310 Phone No.: 575-434-4438 website: www.alamogordomuseum.org email: tbhs@zianet.com Address Service Requested If you are not a member, we invite you to join the Tularosa Basin Historical Society by filling out and returning this form with your payment of dues. BENEFITS OF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP: A. All memberships shall have a voting privilege at any regular or special meeting of TBHS and shall receive the newsletter. B. Subscriber, Contributing, and Corporate, shall receive copies of the Society s semi-annual publication, the Pioneer (Life Membership requires an additional $25 charge per year). C. Corporate & Contributing members are listed in each issue of the newsletter and the Pioneer. D. Dues are paid annually, dating from the month in which they are paid. E. Volunteer opportunities are available for all members. F. Museum Store discount of 10% on all items NAME Street City State Zip PHONE NO. E-MAIL Individual $20 Family $25 Student $10 Subscriber $35 Contributing $100 Life $500 Life Member Annual Subscription to the Pioneer $25 Regular Corporate $50 Sustaining Corporate $500 Benefactor Corporate $1000 Make your check payable to TBHS or pay by Credit Card MasterCard VISA Account No. Exp. Date Signature