User:Tillman/EldoradoNM

The community is locally known as Eldorado, and is reportedly the largest unincorporated community in the state. Eldorado's attractive physical setting, large areas of protected open space, restrictive covenants, reasonable prices and convenience to Santa Fe have made it a popular place to live.

Prehistory
Archaic Indians lived and hunted in the Eldorado area; archaeologists and others have found Clovis points, but little detailed information is available about these earliest settlers.

Around 600 AD, Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) settlers established farms and small pueblos in the area. These settlements endured until about 1325 AD, when a disastrous drought forced abandonment of what became the Eldorado area. Some inhabitants probably moved to the Galisteo, New Mexico area, which itself was abandoned about 1450, as were all of the nearby pueblos except Pecos.

Formal archaeological investigations began about 1914 when Nels Nelson of the American Museum of Natural History partially excavated Pueblo Alamo (site LA-8), near the present-day junction of I-25 with US-285. Unfortunately, Pueblo Alamo was almost completely destroyed by the construction of I-25 around 1971, although some salvage archaeology was done.

Another, smaller pueblo, Chamisa Locita or Pueblo Walls (site LA-4) remains largely undisturbed on undeveloped private land, but it has no formal protection.

Source:

History
Eldorado lies entirely within the Canada de los Alamos Grant, a Spanish land grant which dates back to 1785. In 1883, the entire grant was sold for US$2,000. As recorded in 1894, and patented by the US government, the size of the grant was about 12,068 acres.

In 1901, the Onderdonk Land & Cattle company bought both the Canada de los Alamos Grant and the adjacent Bishop John Lamy Grant for $10,000. The Lamy Grant was about 16,546 acres when patented by the USA in 1874.

The Onderdonk Ranch operated both grants as a cattle ranch into the 1950s. The ranch was sold to the Simpson family in 1956, who continued to operate the ranch until 1969, when the Simpsons sold out to the American Realty and Petroleum Corporation (AMREP) for $3.2 million, or about $118.50/acre.

AMREP proceeded to develop about 6,000 acres of their 27,000 acre purchase as Eldorado at Santa Fe, selling the first lots in 1972. For the first ten years, development was very slow -- only about 200 houses were built. After 1983, when AMREP won a lawsuit over water rights, the pace of development quickened. Many passive solar houses were built, and Eldorado remains the largest solar community in the USA.

AMREP platted about 2700 lots in the original Eldorado subdivisions At present (2007) the original Eldorado subdivisions are essentially built-out, with only a few vacant lots on the market. There are large areas of vacant private land adjacent, but concerns over an assured water supply have, so far, precluded any new large-scale deveolopments.

Source:

Education
The El Dorado Elementary School consistently draws top rankings from independent observers.

The Monte Vista Montessori School, with about 60 students in Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten, is a nonsectarian private school in Eldorado.

Arts
Eldorado has from its beginning been a favorite with local artists, as (until recently) housing costs were comparatively low.

The Eldorado Arts and Crafts Association holds an annual studio tour each year, in mid-May. The 2006 tour featured 94 artists showing their work in 61 studios. On sale are traditional paintings, digital art, ceramics, textiles, wearable art, photography, sculpture, jewelry and more.

All artists contribute 5 percent of sale proceeds to the Eldorado Fire Department, El Dorado Elementary School and the Vista Grande Public Library. In the past five years, the association has contributed about $15,000 to these organizations.