Taos Downtown Historic District

About this property

Taos Downtown Historic District is a historic district in Taos, New Mexico. Taos "played a major role in the development of New Mexico, under Spanish, Mexican, and American governments." It is a key historical feature of the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway of northern New Mexico. Taos Downtown Historic District is located in the center of Taos, New Mexico. It is roughly bounded by Ojitos, Quesnel, Martyr's Lane, Las Placitas and Ranchitos Streets. More broadly the area originally called Don Fernando de Taos is located in the Taos Valley, alongside Taos Creek and about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Taos Pueblo. In the distance is Taos Peak. Arrowheads, potshards and pictographs found in the area provide evidence that Native Americans ranged through the Taos area about 6,000 years ago. About 900 years ago Pueblo people moved into the Taos and Picuris Pueblo areas. Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernando de Alvardo, entered the Taos Valley in 1540. The area was settled by Spanish colonialists starting about 1615. What had begun as good relationships between the people from the pueblo and the settlers became contentious due to "brutal treatment" of the pueblo residents by the Franciscan missionaries, pressure to convert to Christianity, and demands to make tributes to encomenderos. Some of the colonists left the Taos area in 1840 after the Franciscan priest was killed. In 1661 some people returned to the still difficult situation. Due to the poor treatment of the residents of the pueblo, a revolt by indigenous peoples in 1680 resulted in the Spanish being driven out of the area. Sixteen years later the Taos valley was resettled by Don Diego de Vargas of Spain with a renewed and more respectful perspective. Spanish families settled in the Taos Plaza area and Ranchos de Taos. In 1710 the Spanish regained the territory. For protection against attacks by Plains Indians, many people of Spanish heritage lived on, or built houses very near, the Taos Pueblo. Subsequently, concerned about the rate of intermarriage between the Spanish and people of the pueblo, the Spanish were asked to move at least "one league" away from the pueblo. In 1779 the Battle of Cuerno Verde was led by Juan Bautista de Anza against the Comanches. Several tribal leaders and the chief were killed during the battle. As a result, the hostilities by that tribe subsided. In 1794 an order was initiated that prohibited Spanish, Negroes and mulattoes from living on pueblo lands. In addition, the General Indian Policy by Commandant General Teodoro de Croix resulted in a reduction in hostile attacks in the Taos Valley.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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