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Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,716. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, El Prado, and Arroyo Seco. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American village and tribe from which it takes its name.
Taos is the county seat of Taos County. The English name Taos derives from the native Taos language meaning "place of red willows".
Taos is the principal city of the Taos, NM Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Taos County.
The Taos Pueblo, which borders the town of Taos on its north side, has been occupied for nearly a millennium. It is estimated that the pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 A.D., with some later expansion, and the pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in America.[1]
Located in a tributary valley off the Rio Grande, it is the most northern of the New Mexico pueblos. The Pueblo, at some places five stories high, is a combination of many individual homes with common walls. There are over 1,900 people in the Taos pueblo community. Some of them have modern homes near their fields and stay at their homes on the pueblo during cooler weather. There are about 150 people who live at the pueblo year-around. The Taos Pueblo was added as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world; other sites include the Taj Mahal, Great Pyramids and the Grand Canyon in the United States.[1]
Taos was established c. 1615 as Don Fernando de Taos, following the Spanish conquest of the Indian Pueblo villages by Geneva Vigil. Initially, relations of the Spanish settlers with Taos Pueblo were amicable,[2] but resentment of meddling by missionaries, and demands by encomenderos for tribute, led to a revolt in 1640; Taos Indians killed their priest and a number of Spanish settlers, and fled the pueblo, not returning until 1661.[3]
In 1680, Taos Pueblo joined the widespread Pueblo Revolt. After the Spanish Reconquest of 1692, Taos Pueblo continued armed resistance to the Spanish until 1696, when Governor Diego de Vargas defeated the Indians at Taos Canyon.[3]
During the 1770s, Taos was repeatedly raided by Comanches who lived on the plains of what is now eastern Colorado. Juan Bautista de Anza, governor of the Province of New Mexico, led a successful punitive expedition in 1779 against the Comanches.[4]
Between 1780 and 1800, Don Ferando de Taos (now Taos), was established.[5] Between 1796 and 1797 the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant gave land to 63 Spanish families in the Taos valley.[6] It was built as a fortified plaza with adobe buildings and is now a central plaza surrounded by residential areas.[5] Mountain men who trapped for beaver nearby made Taos their home in the early 1800s.[6]
Mexico ceded the region to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. After the U.S. takeover of New Mexico in 1847, Hispanics and American Indians in Taos staged a rebellion, known as the Taos Revolt, in which the newly appointed U.S. Governor, Charles Bent, was killed. New Mexico was a territory of the United States beginning 1850 and became a state in 1912.
For historical reasons, the American flag is displayed continuously at Taos Plaza (both day and night). This derives from the time of the American Civil War, when Confederate sympathizers in the area attempted to remove the flag. The Union officer Kit Carson sought to discourage this activity by having guards surround the area and fly the flag 24 hours a day.[7]
"The Padre of Isleta", Anton Docher first served as a priest in Taos before leaving for Isleta in 1891.[8]
Beginning in 1899, artists began to settle in Taos; six formed the Taos Society of Artists in 1915. In time, the Taos art colony developed. Many paintings were made of local scenes, especially of Taos Pueblo and activities there, as the artists often modelled Native Americans from the pueblo in their paintings. Some of the artists' studios have been preserved and may be viewed by visitors to Taos. These include the Ernest L. Blumenschein House, the Eanger Irving Couse House and Studio—Joseph Henry Sharp Studios, and the Nicolai Fechin house, all of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[9][10] Influential later 20th-century Taos artists include R. C. Gorman and Agnes Martin.
Taos is home to more than twenty sites on the National Register of Historic Places.[11]
Twenty miles northwest is the D. H. Lawrence Ranch (originally known as the Kiowa Ranch and now owned by the University of New Mexico), the home of the English novelist in the 1920s. It is believed that his ashes are buried there at the D. H. Lawrence Memorial. Another novelist who lived for a while in Taos was Alexander Trocchi.
As of the 2010 census Taos had a population of 5,716. The median age was 44. The ethnic and racial composition of the population was 40.1% non-Hispanic white, 0.7% African American, 1.0% Asian, 5.3% Native American, 0.3% non-Hispanics reporting some other race, 5.4% reporting two or more races and 51.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race.[17]
As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 4,700 people, 2,067 households, and 1,157 families residing in the town. The population density was 874.5 inhabitants per square mile (337.6/km2). There were 2,466 housing units at an average density of 458.8 per square mile (177.1/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 68.04% White, 0.53% African American, 4.11% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 21.66% from other races, and 4.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 54.34% of the population.
There were 2,067 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.0% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 85.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,016, and the median income for a family was $33,564. Males had a median income of $27,683 versus $23,326 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,983. About 17.9% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 24.4% of those age 65 or over.
Taos is located at (36.393979, −105.576705).[19]
The town has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14 km2), all land.[20]
Taos is located near the U.S. Route 64.[21]
The elevation of the town is 6,967 feet (2,124 m).[22] Just north of Taos is Wheeler Peak, at 13,161 feet (4,011 m), the highest point in New Mexico.[22] Taos has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with extreme diurnal variations of temperature and low rainfall. Even when summer days get extremely hot, nights can be pleasantly cool.
The town of Taos is incorporated under the mayor-council form of government. The town was incorporated on May 7, 1934.[30] The town seal is a logo of the town of Taos with the year of incorporation "1934" in the center, and on the outer edge, the words "Town of Taos, New Mexico".[31]
The elective officers of the town include: the mayor, 4 members of the governing body forming the town council, and a municipal judge.[32] The town council is the board of finance of the town. The town manager and finance director serve as the nonvoting members to the board of finance.[33] Key positiongs within the town government are town manager, appointed by the major, Town Attorney, Town Clerk, Town Engineer and Chief of Police.[34]
The current town officers as of April 2014 are:[35]
Taos is predominantly made up of Democrats; In 2008, approximately 74% of registered Taos County voters were Democrats, 13% Republicans and about 13% were alternate parties or decline to affiliate with a party.[36]
[41]
Other airports in New Mexico include the Santa Fe Municipal Airport and Albuquerque International Sunport.[42]
El Crepusculo de la Libertad was the first Taos newspaper, which began in 1834 with the first printing press west of the Mississippi.[3] Its successor The Taos News, which also does business as El Crepusculo, is the primary printed newspaper in Taos.
There are two local cable television stations: Taos Local Television Public Access Channel 2[46] and Channel 22.[47] See also List of television stations in New Mexico.
Radio stations serving Taos include:[48]
On September 18, 1991, the PBS TV series Reading Rainbow shot its seventy-third episode "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" here. The title was based on a book by Tomie dePaola and was narrated by Harold Littlebird (born 1951). Santa Fe's Dominic C. Arquero introduced himself at this program's beginning.[55][56]
The Terminator Salvation,[57] the 1994 film Natural Born Killers,[58] and in Wild Hogs.[59]
The film Garbage Warrior documents architect Mike Reynolds who builds Earthships in and around Taos.
Two characters in television series were portrayed as having originally been law enforcement officers in Taos. Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud in McCloud (played by Dennis Weaver), and Sheriff Victor Galindez as Gunnery Sgt. in JAG (played by Randy Vasquez).
An ongoing low frequency noise, audible only to some, is thought to originate somewhere near this town and is consequently sometimes known as the Taos Hum. Those who have heard the Hum usually hear it west of Taos near Tres Orejas. The Taos Hum was featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries,[60] and it was also briefly mentioned in an episode of The X-Files.[61]
The Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival was a film festival held in the town from the mid-1990s to 2003. The festival's top prize was 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land.[62][63][64]
Taos has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:
Mabel Dodge Luhan House, a National Historic Landmark
View of Taos from mountain trail
Downtown Paseo Del Pueblo Norte in Taos
Spanish Revival-style First Baptist Church
Lobby of the La Fonda hotel
San Francisco de Asis Church at Ranchos de Taos
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oklahoma
National Register of Historic Places, New Mexico, Taos, New Mexico, Spanish language, National Park Service
New Mexico, Taos, New Mexico, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, Race (United States Census), Mora County, New Mexico
New Mexico State University, New Mexico, Mountain West Conference, New Mexico Lobos, World War II
New Mexico, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, Mexico, Texas, Kansas
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Texas, Roswell, New Mexico, Colorado
Taos County, New Mexico, Taos, New Mexico, New Mexico, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, United States
New Mexico, Art Students League of New York, Académie Julian, Taos Society of Artists, Taos, New Mexico