| Palace of the Governors | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
 Palace of the Governors
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| Location: | 120 Washington Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Coordinates: | 35°41′15.85″N 105°56′15.01″W / 35.6877361°N 105.9375028°W |
| Built/Founded: | 1610 |
| Architect: | Unknown |
| Architectural style(s): | Colonial, Other |
| Governing body: | State |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL: | October 9, 1960[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000489 |
The Palace of the Governors (1610) is an adobe structure located on Palace Avenue on the Plaza of Santa Fe, New Mexico between Palace Avenue and Washington Street. It is within the Santa Fe Historic District and it served as the seat of government for the State of New Mexico for centuries. The Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States.
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History
In 1610, Pedro de Peralta, the newly appointed governor of the Spanish territory covering most of the American Southwest, began construction on the Palace of the Governors. In the following years, the Palace changed hands as the territory of New Mexico did, seeing the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Spanish reconquest from 1693 to 1694, Mexican independence in 1821, and finally American possession in 1846.
The Palace originally served as the seat of government of the Spanish colony of Nuevo Mexico, which at one time comprised the present-day states of Texas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California, and New Mexico. After the Mexican War of Independence, the Mexican province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México was administered from the Palace of the Governors. When New Mexico was annexed as a U.S. territory, the Palace became New Mexico's first territorial capitol. During the American Civil War, the building also briefly served as the Confederate Army's regional headquarters.
Lew Wallace wrote the final parts of his book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ in this building while serving as territorial governor in the late 1870s. He remembered later in life that it was at night, during a severe thunderstorm in the spring of 1879, after returning from a tense meeting with Billy the Kid in Lincoln County, when he wrote the climactic Crucifixion scenes of the novel. Wallace worked by the light of a shaded lamp in the shuttered governor's study, fearing a bullet from outside over the tensions surrounding the Lincoln County War.
Between 1909, when the New Mexico state legislature established the Museum of New Mexico, and Summer 2009 the Palace of the Governors served as the site of the state history museum. In 2009 the new state history museum was opened adjacent to the Palace, which is now one of nine museums overseen by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[2][3]
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
- ^ a b "Palace of the Governors". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=347&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Corinne P. Sze and Patti Henry (1999). National Historic Landmark Inventory/Nomination: Palace of the GovernorsPDF (32 KB). National Park Service. and Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 19PDF (32 KB)
External links
- Palace of the Governors Museum housed in the Palace of the Governors building
- New Mexico History Museum offical website
- Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
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