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Pecos National Historical Park
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Pecos Pueblo Mission Church
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| Location: | NM 63 SW of jct. with NM 50, San Miguel County, near Pecos, New Mexico |
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| Area: | 6,671.4 acres (2,699.8 ha) |
| Built: | 0800 |
| Visitation: | 35,782 (2005) |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000485 91000822[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | July 02, 1991 |
| Designated NHL: | October 9, 1960 |
| Designated NMON: | June 28, 1965 |
| Designated NHP: | July 02, 1991 |
Pecos National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is located about 25 miles (40 km) east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The site was originally designated Pecos National Monument on June 28, 1965. In 1990 new lands were added to the park and the official designation was changed to Pecos National Historical Park. It includes the Pecos Pueblo, a National Historic Landmark.[2]
Pecos National Historical Park is composed of several noncontiguous units. The main unit of the park preserves the ruins of Pecos Pueblo. The first Pecos pueblo was one of two dozen rock-and-mud villages built in the valley around AD 1100 in the prehistoric Pueblo II Era. Within 350 years the Pueblo IV Era Pecos village had grown to house over 2,000 people in its five-storied complex.[3] The main unit also protects the remains of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos, a Spanish mission near the pueblo built in the early 17th century. A 1.25-mile (2 km) self-guiding trail begins at the nearby visitor center and winds through the ruins of Pecos Pueblo and the mission church. The Pecos Pueblo was declared a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960.[2][4]
In 1960, the National Park Service's statement of significance read:
This sizeable Pueblo community on the edge of the Plains was occupied for over 400 years. It was important in the history of the Spanish arrival in New Mexico, and the Spanish built and occupied a mission at the site for about 200 of those years. The site was abandoned in the 19th century by its last Pueblo residents.[2]
Other park units protect the Glorieta Pass Battlefield, site of the American Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass, as well as a stretch of wagon ruts along the old Santa Fe Trail. Both the Glorieta and Santa Fe units are currently closed to public use but can be visited on scheduled, ranger-guided tours.
Another part of the park is the Forked Lightning Ranch home designed by John Gaw Meem for Tex Austin and later occupied by Greer Garson.
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