Alamogordo New Mexico Tourism

The vast basin in which Alamogordo is located is known as the Tularosa Basin.  It is an amazing area which was once a large dome.  The dome collapsed and a remarkable process was set in motion. 

The hills around the basin are rising at the rate of two inches a century while the basin floor is sinking at a similar rate.  All of this is happening with geologic deliberation so it goes unnoticed, but the area is a most unusual one for the study of the earth sciences. 

Alamogordo has an unusual beginning.  It was a “planned community” before anyone even used the term.  It was a railroad town, the brainchild of an entrepreneur from New York, Charles B. Eddy.  Ably assisted by his brother, John A. Eddy, and his attorney, William A. Hawkins, Eddy set out to build a railroad and the communities that would support and sustain the iron horse.  Eddy, who had substantial funds from family investments in the Empire State and from his own investments in southeastern New Mexico, intended to build a railroad from El Paso, Texas to the coal fields around Dawson, New Mexico and then on to larger rail connections at Las Vegas, New Mexico. His railroad, the El Paso and Northeastern, reached Alamogordo on June 14-15, 1898, and the town had its official beginning.

Alamogordo New Mexico Tourism

The vast basin in which Alamogordo is located is known as the Tularosa Basin. It is an amazing area which was once a large dome. The dome collapsed and a remarkable process was set in motion.

The vast basin in which Alamogordo is located is known as the Tularosa Basin.  It is an amazing area which was once a large dome.  The dome collapsed and a remarkable process was set in motion. 