Roswell

History

The first settlers were a group of pioneers from Missouri, who attempted to start a settlement southwest of what is now Roswell in 1865, but were forced to abandon the site because of a lack of water. It was called Missouri Plaza. It also had many Hispanic people from Lincoln, New Mexico. John Chisum had his famous Jingle Bob Ranch about from the center of Roswell, at South Spring Acres. At the time, it was the largest ranch in the United States. Van C. Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn, constructed two adobe buildings in 1869 that began what is now Roswell. The two buildings became the settlement's general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests. In 1871, Smith filed a claim with the federal government for the land around the buildings, and on August 20, 1873, he became the town's first postmaster. Smith was the son of Roswell Smith, a prominent lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana, and Annie Ellsworth, daughter of U.S. Patent Commissioner Henry Leavitt Ellsworth. He called the town Roswell, after his father's first name. In 1877, Captain Joseph Calloway Lea and his family bought out Smith and Wilburn's claim and became the owners of most of the land of Roswell and the area surrounding it. The town was relatively quiet during the Lincoln County War (1877–1879). A major aquifer was discovered when merchant Nathan Jaffa had a well drilled in his back yard on Richardson Avenue in 1890, resulting in the area's first major growth and development spurt. The growth continued when the Pecos Valley Railroad arrived in 1892. During World War II, a prisoner-of-war camp was located in nearby Orchard Park, New Mexico. The German prisoners of war were used to do major infrastructure work in Roswell, such as paving the banks…

Geography

Roswell is located in the High Great Plains of southeastern New Mexico, approximately west of the Pecos River and some east of highlands that rise to the Sierra Blanca range. U.S. Routes 70, 285, and 380 intersect in the city. US 70 leads northeast to Clovis and west to Alamogordo; US 285 leads north to Santa Fe and south to Carlsbad; and US 380 leads east to Brownfield, Texas, and west to Socorro. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and , or 0.18%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,599
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,439
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,417
• American Coot

  Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  2,238
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,062
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  2,003
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,994
• Northern Shoveler

  Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,925

Largest nearby schools

• ROSWELL HIGH
  High · ROSWELL · 1,438 students · 18:1 ratio
• GODDARD HIGH
  High · ROSWELL · 1,155 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• BERRENDO MIDDLE
  Middle · ROSWELL · 663 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• SIERRA MIDDLE
  Middle · ROSWELL · 627 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• MOUNTAIN VIEW MIDDLE
  Middle · ROSWELL · 520 students · 20:1 ratio
• DEL NORTE ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ROSWELL · 509 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• VALLEY VIEW ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ROSWELL · 463 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• MESA MIDDLE
  Middle · ROSWELL · 422 students · 15.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-10-16
  33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
• M 2.9 — 2026-10-04
  31 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
• M 3.4 — 2026-09-24
  33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
• M 3.1 — 2026-06-06
  25 km WNW of La Huerta, New Mexico
• M 2.5 — 2026-06-01
  26 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
• M 2.6 — 2026-05-31
  24 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico