Santa Fe Plaza
Santa Fe Plaza, Santa Fe, NMA feature of Santa Fe since its founding in 1609, the Santa Fe Plaza has always been the social and economic center of the city, and in its earlier days, the strategic defense center as well. To the traders and travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, the Plaza symbolized the goal of their long trek, for here they parked and unloaded their wagons and displayed their trade goods. The Plaza no longer appears as the large open market and trading center of old; but as a pleasant town square, it continues to be the center of Santa Fe.
History
In the winter of 1609-10, Don Pedro de Peralta, third governor of the Province of Nuevo Mejico, established the settlement of Santa Fe, with the construction of a palacio for a fortress, the laying out of a plaza, and the erection of a wall around the settlement. Although the wall did not survive, the palace did, and with the subsequent construction of houses for the Spanish officers and officials on the other three sides of the plaza, that large open square of packed earth provided a well-fortified center of defense against Indian attack. As well as providing a focus for the houses of the social elite, the plaza was the commercial center of Santa Fe, for here was the marketplace for Indian wares and garden produce. In 1821, when Mexico gained independence from Spain, the plaza was named La Plaza de la Constitucion, and at this time, the trade route to Santa Fe from the United States was opened. With the commencement of trade on the Santa Fe Trail, the plaza provided the final goal for the caravans on their eight or ten-week journeys. The wagons were parked and unloaded on the plaza and custom negotiations were carried out, and it was from the plaza that the weary traders spread out over the town in search of refreshment and entertainment. In 1846, on the plaza, General Kearny proclaimed the annexation of New Mexico to the United States, and with the coming of the Americans, activity on the Santa Fe Trail began to lessen. The plaza was fenced in and planted with alfalfa, and reduced to half its size. The later structures of the "80s" which flanked the plaza were primarily specimens of transplanted eastern architecture, although in recent years, there has been a return to the earlier Pueblo, Spanish, and territorial styles.Bibliography
R. L. Duffus, The Santa Fe Trail (New York, 1930).
Josiah Gregg, The Commerce of the Prairies (Dallas, 1933).
Ralph Twitchell, Old Santa Fe (Santa Fe, 1925).
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.