2004 Most Endangered

Most Endangered Places in New Mexico 2004

• Albuquerque Locomotive Shops, Bernalillo County
  
• Motel Blvd. / Old U.S. Highway 80
  
• Aztec Ruins National Monument
  
• Marked and Unmarked Cemeteries Throughout New Mexico
  
• Mesa Prieta
  
• The Hoyle House
  
• Traditional Village of Agua Fria
  
• Folsom Hotel
  
• Lake Valley Ghost Town
  
• Valle Vidal Unit
  
• St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church
  

Traditional Village of Agua Fria

Santa Fe County. Nominated by Tamara Lichtenstein, Santa Fe.

SIGNIFICANCE Agua Fria is an unincorporated (county) residential area adjacent to the city of Santa Fe, and almost surrounded by it. The Santa Fe River and the historic Camino Real run through it. Although the village is virtually a part of Santa Fe, it has retained its rural character to a surprising degree. In recognition of its historic nature, Santa Fe County designated part of it a Traditional Historic Community, a recognition that does not bestow any legal protection. The village contains the historic adobe San Isidro church, an historic WPA adobe building, the Bruce Cooper House (on the state register), and a number of other old adobes. The village includes the last remaining unpaved section of a branch of the Camino Real, a single-lane one block stretch. Some village residents trace their roots here back 300 years. The mostly unexcavated L.A. II archaeological site is also in the village.

THREAT Agua Fria is in the direct path of an intense and concerted tide of development sweeping over southwest Santa Fe. It has already been damaged by inappropriate development projects. The county has approved a large urban infill project in the village, which, if allowed to stand (there is a law suit against the county and the developer), would serve as a precedent for more of the same. If more such commercial and high density projects are approved. it will render null and void whatever protection the Traditional Historic Community designation (the first in New Mexico) was intended to provide. The village is in the tenuous position of being David to the Santa Fe urban expansion?s Goliath, and is struggling to retain a rural quality of life and an historic tradition and landscape.