Alto tourist information
Alto, located in the southeast corner of Kent County, has several historic buildings including the historic township hall which is still in use today, the ladies aide hall which is now a museum and the restored one-room schoolhouse. Near the historic center is the Tyler Creek golf course and campground. Bowne Township still retains its beautiful rural surroundings.
Alto, 800 population, 7,300 feet elevation, nine miles northwest of Ruidoso on NM Highway 48, was established with a post office in 1901, even though it was settled in 1882.
Postmaster W. H. Walker chose its name, Alto - Spanish for high. Eugene Manlove Rhodes was a cowboy writer who taught here in 1891 and 1892. However, it was known as Eagle Creek during those years. Now it is the home of artists, as well as merchants and businesses. Alto Village, a development with lovely homes, has its own golf course. The entrance to the Ski Apache slopes on Sierra Blanca Mountain is to the west on NM Highway 532 just as you enter Alto.
Glencoe, ten miles northeast of Ruidoso Downs on US Highway 70, was settled in 1875 by the Coe family. Since glen means valley, it was easy to combine the name Coe with the locale. Jasper N. Coe was the first postmaster. They marketed hay to nearby Fort Stanton. One of their hired hands was William Bonney, later known as Billy the Kid. Glencoe has recently expanded to include a complex where horse sales are held. It is also the location of the annual Cowboy Symposium.
Ruidoso Downs, population 800, now famous for the race track and its All-American Quarter Horse Futurity Race, was originally known as Palo Verde. Hale Spring, at the base of the mountain to the south, was also a settlement of prehistoric people. According to NEW MEXICO, A Colorful Guide to the State, evidence of a large burial ground and a very large ancient irrigation ditch is here. In the 1930s a man named Heck Johnson sold lots and water rights; soon there were orchards and gardens and a small population. When an application for a post office was made in 1946, the postal department evidently translated it Green Tree.
Eugene V. Hensley, who is credited with originating the richest horse race in the world with a purse of $1,000,000, wanted Ruidoso Downs to have its own postmark. He convinced the towns people to hold an election to change the name from Green Tree. It passed and thus, in 1958, Ruidoso Downs became the official name. Racing season is from early May through Labor Day. The Museum of the Horse is also located in Ruidoso Downs.
by Southern New Mexico - Phyllis Eileen Banks
Alto aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Alto aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Alto.
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