Historic Walking Tour

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Walk Into the Atomic Age

First inhabited by the ancestors of Northern New Mexico’s pueblos, Los Alamos is located on the Pajarito Plateau of the Jemez Mountains, formed by eruptions of a giant volcano more than a million years ago. Pueblo ancestors and later Hispanic homesteaders used the plateau for seasonal farming and grazing. In 1917, H.H. Brook’s Alamos* ranch was purchased by Ashley Pond II to start Los Alamos Ranch School, a boys’ school which combined academics and a physical curriculum. During World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers took over the mesa and sealed it for a secret mission to end the war, the Manhattan Project.

Whether you want to visit Fuller Lodge, take an Espionage or Historical Walking Tour with the Los Alamos Historical Society, or you'd prefer to wander through the area following our wayfinding signs, there is something for you no matter how much time you have. 

Become a time traveler on this walking tour which takes you from ancestral pueblo dwellings to a homesteader’s cabin, to the very spot where the first atomic bomb components were assembled.
The tour can be taken at your own pace, but try to set aside time to enjoy the museums, shopping, and restaurants along your way.

Ranch School Big House

Ranch School Big House

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Ashley Pond (archive)

Ashley Pond (archive)

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A mid-1940s view (to the east on Central at 20th Street)

A mid-1940s view (to the east on Central at 20th Street)

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Fuller Lodge, designed by John Gaw Meem in 1928 for the Ranch School, still functions as a center of community activities

Fuller Lodge, designed by John Gaw Meem in 1928 for the Ranch School, still functions as a center of community activities

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Quonset huts, mud rutted streets, and wooden sidewalks attest to the temporary nature of a hurriedly built town of WWII.

Quonset huts, mud rutted streets, and wooden sidewalks attest to the temporary nature of a hurriedly built town of WWII.

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Ranch School Faculty Housing (archive)

Ranch School Faculty Housing (archive)

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The Manhattan Project Technical Area surrounding Ashley Pond, LASL Photo (archive)

The Manhattan Project Technical Area surrounding Ashley Pond, LASL Photo (archive)

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Sheep graze contentedly at the H.H. Brook homestead in 1915 on the site of today’s History Museum and Fuller Lodge. (archive)

Sheep graze contentedly at the H.H. Brook homestead in 1915 on the site of today’s History Museum and Fuller Lodge. (archive)

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Remember to Stop and Shop

Los Alamos’ Historic District is chock full of great little shops and restaurants. Within the boundaries of your walking tour, you will run across locally owned cafès and restaurants. These include everything from New Mexican cuisine, baked goods, sushi, and everything in between.

Unique local shops also line your route. There are coffee shops, a jewelry store, a hardware store, and many other shops to offer you goods to remember your visit to Los Alamos. The History Museum gift shop stocks books, toys, cards, and souvenirs that are uniquely Los Alamos. 

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