La Luz

History

Native Americans lived in the area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the late 16th Century. The Mescalero Apache homelands covered an area of south-central New Mexico including the Sacramento Mountains and the Tularosa Basin. Today, the ancestral homelands of the Apache have been reduced to those lands contained in the Mescalero Apache Reservation, approximately 30 miles northeast of La Luz. There is some dispute over the founding of La Luz. By some accounts, it was founded by Franciscan friars as early as the 18th Century and called Nuestra Señora De La Luz (Our Lady of the Light). Early maps of the area include this notation and La Luz Canyon may have served as an early pass over the Sacramento Mountains connecting with the Peñasco river, which eventually flows into the Pecos River near present-day Artesia, New Mexico. The Sacramento Mountains reach a height of 9,000 feet. It is well documented that a large group of Hispanic settlers came to the area around 1864 leaving villages along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of present-day Socorro, New Mexico, after devastating floods had occurred. These settlers founded the Village of Tularosa along the banks of Tularosa Creek and established a large acequia system and agricultural area. Anglo settlers arrived in increasing numbers in the area especially after the Civil War with some establishing large ranches in the Tularosa Basin and nearby areas to supply beef to nearby Fort Stanton. Increasing rivalries between various competing factions would result in the Lincoln County War. The arrival of the railroad in the area brought rapid change to the area. The railroad reached El Paso, ninety miles to the south, in 1882. Charles B. Eddy and partners constructed a branch line from El Paso northward…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land. La Luz sits at the opening of La Luz Canyon Creek, whose headwaters are high in the Sacramento Mountains. The waters of La Luz and Fresnal creeks are used by both the much larger city of Alamogordo, just to the south of La Luz and by La Luz in a ditch or acequia system. The City of Alamogordo has constructed a large reservoir to the south of La Luz to impound these waters.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,118
• Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coult.

  Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coult. · Magnoliopsida
  1,938
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,762
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,333
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,144
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,131
• eagle-claw cactus

  Echinocactus horizonthalonius Lem. · Magnoliopsida
  1,109
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,029

Largest nearby schools

• ALAMOGORDO HIGH
  High · ALAMOGORDO · 1,579 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• CHAPARRAL MIDDLE
  Middle · ALAMOGORDO · 627 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• MOUNTAIN VIEW MIDDLE
  Middle · ALAMOGORDO · 502 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• SUNSET HILLS ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ALAMOGORDO · 466 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• DESERT STAR ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ALAMOGORDO · 464 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• SIERRA ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ALAMOGORDO · 301 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• TULAROSA HIGH
  High · TULAROSA · 272 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• TULAROSA INTERMEDIATE
  Elementary · TULAROSA · 268 students · 14.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2025-05-06
  6 km W of Nogal, New Mexico
• M 2.8 — 2025-01-03
  50 km NW of Tularosa, New Mexico
• M 3 — 2022-10-25
  2 km NNE of La Luz, New Mexico
• M 2.7 — 2008-04-16
  17 km W of Carrizozo, New Mexico
• M 3.5 — 2004-11-14
  26 km NW of Tularosa, New Mexico