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Roswell is a city in Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, USA. It is the county seat of Chaves County. As of the 2005 census estimate, the population was 45,199, making it New Mexico's fifth largest city. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute, founded in 1891. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River. In the 1930s Roswell was a site for much of Robert Goddard's early rocketry work. It is also the birthplace of actress Demi Moore, musician John Denver and Hall of Fame jockey Mike E. Smith. A Golf Hall of Famer, Nancy Lopez, was raised in Roswell (though born in California). A Hall of Famer astronaut, sixth man on the moon Edgar Mitchell, went to school in Roswell. Roger Staubach (later of the Dallas Cowboys) played football at NMMI, and Lewis Lloyd (later of the Houston Rockets) played basketball there. The professional baseball record for home runs in a season, 72, was set in 1954 by Joe Bauman of the Roswell Rockets, who took up permanent residence there (the record was broken in 2001 by Barry Bonds).
Geography and ClimateRoswell is located at 33° 23' 14" North, 104° 31' 41" West (33.387160, -104.528116)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.0 km² (29.0 mi²). 75.0 km² (28.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.07%) is water.
DemographicsAs of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 45,293 people, 17,068 households, and 11,742 families residing in the city. The population density was 604.3/km² (1,565.2/mi²). There were 19,327 housing units at an average density of 257.9/km² (667.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.96% White, 2.47% African American, 1.28% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 21.29% from other races, and 3.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44.34% of the population.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,252, and the median income for a family was $31,724. Males had a median income of $26,554 versus $21,408 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,589. About 18.7% of families and 22.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.1% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over. Image:Roswell-mainstreet.01.vm.jpg Roswell Mainstreet today HistoryThe first non-indigenous settlers of the area around Roswell were a group of pioneers from Missouri, who attempted to start a settlement 15 miles southwest of what is now Roswell in 1865 but were forced to abandon the site because of a lack of water. Van C. Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn, constructed two adobe buildings in 1869 that began what is now Roswell. The two buildings became the settlement's general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests. In 1871, Smith filed a claim with the federal government for the land around the buildings, and on August 20, 1873, he became the town's first postmaster. He called the town Roswell, after his father's first name. Van C. Smith was the son of Roswell Smith, a prominent lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana, and Annie Ellsworth, daugther of U.S. Patent Commissioner Henry Leavitt Ellsworth. Roswell was originally in Lincoln County, but since 1887, has been in Chaves County. The Roswell, NM Post Office uses ZIP code 88201. In 1877, Captain Joseph Calloway Lea and his family bought out Smith and Wilburn's claim and became the owners of most of the land of Roswell and the area surrounding it. The town was relatively quiet during the Lincoln County War (1877-1879). A major aquifer was discovered on the Nathan Jaffa Ranch near town in 1891, resulting in the area's first major growth and development spurt. The growth continued when a railroad was built through town in 1893. During World War II, a prisoner of war camp was located in nearby Orchard Park. The German prisoners of war were used to do major infrastructure work in Roswell, such as paving the banks of the North Spring River. Some POWs used rocks of different sizes to create the outline of an iron cross among the stones covering the north bank. Later, the iron cross was covered with a thin layer of concrete. In the 1980s, a crew cleaning the river bed cleared off the concrete and revealed the outline once more. The small park just south of the cross was then known as Iron Cross Park. On November 11, 1996 the park was renamed POW/MIA park. The park displays a piece of the Berlin Wall, presented to the City of Roswell by the German Air Force. In the early 1980s, a major manufacturer, Transportation Manufacturing Corporation, which produced buses opened a factory in Roswell. The factory has opened and closed repeatedly, resulting in cyclical swings of unemployment. TMC stopped building buses. NovaBus used the same buildings to manufacture buses but has also closed. The plant was reopened by Millennium Transit Services in 2003. Roswell was a location of military importance from 1941 to 1967, at which time Walker Air Force Base was decommissioned. After the closure of the base, Roswell capitalized on its pleasant climate and reinvented itself as a retirement community. Roswell has benefited from interest in the alleged UFO incident, and in more recent times the business community has deliberately sought out tourists interested in UFOs.
1947 Roswell UFO incident
In early July 1947, a strange object reportedly crashed about 75 miles northwest of the city on a ranch, leaving a large field of debris. The local air base at Roswell investigated after the rancher first reported it to Roswell authorities on July 6. On July 8, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) announced it had recovered a "flying disk". A few days after the initial "flying disk" press release, U.S. Army Air Force officials stated that it was not a UFO, but a [[weather balloon. However locals have reported that in the following days there were strange visitors around the town. These suspicious characters have left the townspeople in fear of their safety and also of the safety of their relatives in nearby villages. Matthew Turner, a resident of the town at the time, has gone on record to say that he heard voices in the immediate hours that followed the sighting. Turner was told that the voices were part of a schizophrenic episode however he maintains to this day that the "aliens were talking to him" there were many reports at the time of contact between extra-terrestrials and humans.]],[1] a statement that has always been disputed by many. EducationPublic schools
Private schools
Colleges
TransportationAirport
Also served by Pecos Trails Transit. Nearby Cities
Major highwaysTrivia
References
Singer/Songwriter John Denver was born here. See also
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