City of Las Vegas Museum/Rough Rider Memorial Collection - Las Vegas, New Mexico

 Print This Post

 City of Las Vegas Museum/Rough Rider Memorial Collection - Las Vegas, New Mexico

Have you heard about the Rough Riders?  They were critical to the development of New Mexico.  The city of Las Vegas has a collection illustrating the history of the community and how the Rough Riders and the Santa Fe Trail played a part of the creation of this area.  The building the museum is housed in was originally constructed as a municipal building; the structure is a venerable stone building with Pueblo Revival elements.

There are local Native American pottery displays, household items, costumes, Rough Rider memorabilia and ranching and farming equipment.  There are exhibit halls that interpret agricultural and mercantile operations, home life, the Santa Fe Trail and the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (the Rough Riders.)
The museum has an area bout local history, a section on the Santa Fe Trail; of course the Rough Rider Memorial Collection with has photos of the Rough Riders.  There are things from their involvement in the Spanish-American War and the 1898 Cuban Campaign, pictures of Theodore Roosevelt and Roosevelt's Rough Rider Association reunions.  There is information on over 200 members of the original regiment, RRR Association documents and other subjects.

There are photographs containing over 1,500 items, mostly from the 1880's through 1940.  There are black and white prints, a collection includes the tintypes, stereoviews and panoramas.

HOURS
10:00 am to 4:00 pm    
Tuesday through Saturday           
Closed on city holidays 
       
LOCATION: 727 Grand Avenue, Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701
       
PARKING   On-street parking is located throughout the area.
       
CONTACT   505.454.1401 extension 283
505.425.7335 fax
Email:museum@desertgate.com
             
ADMISSION   Free    
           
ARCHIVES/LIBRARY   Available by appointment Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm
Archives include business ledgers, invoices; social society scrapbooks; correspondence; hotel ledgers, stationary and invitations; programs; cards; newspapers; maps; monographs.  
               
The Museum Shop is operated by Friends of the City of Las Vegas Museum. The shop features books on the Rough Riders and regional history, Santa Fe Trail memorabilia, handcrafted gifts and toys.