La Luz, NM

On the return trip from Cloudcroft we took an alternate route instead of the highway. It is an alternate road that was built in case the highway, the only roadway to and from Cloudcroft, had to be closed for one reason or another. The road was a bit rugged. Parts of it were paved and parts of it were gravel. It had tight turns, quick descends and at one point even crosses the Canyon creek. The road lead us to the town of La Luz. La Luz is a small town about 6 miles north of Alamogordo. The buildings are mostly adobe style with a small store and church in the town. It sits at the opening of the La Luz Canyon Creek whose headwaters are high in the Sacramento Mountains. Its population is 1816 with a medium income of $28,600 and a median age of 39. There is some controversial history fot La Luz. Native Americans have been living in this area thousand of years prior to the Spanish arrival in the 16th century. The dispute is over who actually founded La Luz. One account is Franciscan friars founded La Luz as early as the 18th century and called it Nuestra Senora De La Luz (Lady of the Light). The other account is when the Hispanics came and founded Tularosa they then created La Luz where they created a large acequia system and architectural areas. Anglo saxons started to move in after the civil war. The railroad brought rapid growth to this area with the "Cloud Climbing Railroad" in the 1890s and in the 1920's La Luz had another growth spurt with the development of La Luz Pottery Works. The rich soil deposits from the canyon made perfect clay for the manufacturing clay roof tiles and architectural compounds such as large chimney pots and pottery vessels. It was the reason the Pottery works was created. Currently, La Luz serves as another bedroom community for Alamogordo. When we drove through La Luz the town was empty with very little traffic but a beautiful view of the Sacramental Mountains.