The Rio Grande bisects the Mesilla Valley and passes west of Las Cruces proper, supplying irrigation water for the intensive agriculture surrounding the city. ĭoña Ana County lies within the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion, and the vegetation surrounding the built portions of the city are typical of this setting it includes creosote bush ( Larrea tridentata), soaptree ( Yucca elata), tarbush ( Flourensia cernua), broom dalea ( Psorothamnus scoparius), and various desert grasses such as tobosa ( Hilaria mutica or Pleuraphis mutica) and black grama ( Bouteloua eriopoda). Las Cruces is the center of the Organ Caldera the Doña Ana Mountains to the north and the Organ Mountains to the east are its margins. The approximate elevation of Las Cruces is 3,908 feet (1,191 m) above sea level.Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 76.6 square miles (198.5 km 2), of which 76.5 square miles (198.1 km 2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km 2), or 0.18%, is water. In recent years, the influx of retirees from out of state has also increased Las Cruces' population. Las Cruces is the nearest city to each, and they provide Las Cruces' work force many high-paying, stable, government jobs. The establishment of White Sands Missile Range in 1944 and White Sands Test Facility in 1963 has been integral to population growth. Growth of Las Cruces has been attributed to the university, government jobs, and recent retirees. New Mexico State University was founded in 1888, and it has grown as Las Cruces has grown. Pat Garrett is best known for his involvement in the Lincoln County War, but he also worked in Las Cruces on a famous case, the disappearance of Albert Jennings Fountain in 1896. Las Cruces was incorporated as a town in 1907. : 62 Las Cruces was not affected as strongly by the train as some other villages, as it was not a terminus or a crossroads, but the population did grow to 2,300 in the 1880s. : 58 The first train reached Las Cruces in 1881. : 48 When the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway reached the area, the landowners of Mesilla refused to sell it the rights-of-way, and instead residents of Las Cruces donated the rights-of-way and land for a depot in Las Cruces. Initially Mesilla became the leading settlement of the area, with more than 2,000 residents in 1860, more than twice what Las Cruces had at that time, Mesilla had a population primarily of Mexican descent. : 36, 40 The town was named, "Las Cruces," after three crosses which were once located just north of the town. This land had been ceded to the United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, which ended the Mexican American War. The town was first surveyed as the result of the American acquisition of the land surrounding Las Cruces, which later became the New Mexico Territory. The settlement of Las Cruces was founded in 1849 when the US Army first surveyed the town, thus opening up the area for American settlement. 3.1 Census 2020 data and 2019 estimates.The city is also the headquarters for Virgin Galactic, the world's first company to offer sub-orbital spaceflights. Spaceport America, which has corporate offices in Las Cruces, operates from 55 miles (89 km) to the north, and has completed several successful crewed, suborbital flights. Las Cruces lies 225 miles (362 km) south of Albuquerque, 42 miles (68 km) northwest of El Paso, Texas and 41 miles (66 km) north of the Mexican border at Sunland Park. The Organ Mountains, 10 miles (16 km) to the east, are dominant in the city's landscape, along with the Doña Ana Mountains, Robledo Mountains, and Picacho Peak. The city's major employer is the federal government on nearby White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range. Las Cruces is the home of New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico's only land-grant university.
Las Cruces is the economic and geographic center of the Mesilla Valley, the agricultural region on the floodplain of the Rio Grande which extends from Hatch to the west side of El Paso, Texas. It is the principal city of a metropolitan statistical area which encompasses all of Doña Ana County and is part of the larger El Paso–Las Cruces combined statistical area. The Las Cruces metropolitan area had an estimated population of 213,849 in 2017. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern New Mexico. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. Las Cruces ( / l ɑː s ˈ k r u s ɪ s/ Spanish: "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S.
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