Ward 1: Cristina Arnold & Juan Oropesa Ward 2: Juliana Halvorson & Will Cavin Ward 3: Edward Heldenbrand & Matthew Chappell Ward 4: Robert Corn & Darrell Johnson Ward 5: Angela Moore & Carlos Marrujo
TheRoswell incident in 1947 was named after the town, though the crash site of the allegedUFO was some 75 miles (121 km) north of Roswell and closer toCorona. The investigation and debris recovery was handled by the localRoswell Army Air Field. On the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident, an annual UFO Festival was started. In the 1930s, Roswell was a site for much ofRobert H. Goddard's earlyrocketry work. The Roswell Museum and Art Center maintains an exhibit that includes a recreation of Goddard'srocket engine development workshop, andGoddard High School is named after him.
Roswell's tourism industry is based onufology museums and businesses, as well asalien-themed andspacecraft-themed iconography. The city also relies on New Mexico andAmericana related tourism[7][8] including theInternational UFO Museum and Research Center. LocalAmerican folk andNew Mexico music performances occur near Pioneer Plaza and in parks around the city. It is a center foracequia-like irrigated farming, dairying, and ranching; it is also the location of several manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum related facilities. Roswell has a history ofminor league baseball. This regional pride has resulted in Roswell receiving theAll-America City Award multiple times, in 1978–79 and 2002.
White family home, built in 1912, now a museumRoswell flood
The first settlers were a group of pioneers fromMissouri, who attempted to start a settlement 15 miles (24 km) southwest of what is now Roswell in 1865, but were forced to abandon the site because of a lack of water. It was called Missouri Plaza. It also had many Hispanic people fromLincoln, New Mexico.John Chisum had his famous Jingle Bob Ranch about 5 miles (8 km) from the center of Roswell, at South Spring Acres. At the time, it was the largest ranch in the United States.
Van C. Smith, a businessman fromOmaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn, constructed twoadobe buildings in 1869 that began what is now Roswell. The two buildings became the settlement's general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests. In 1871, Smith filed a claim with the federal government for the land around the buildings, and on August 20, 1873, he became the town's firstpostmaster. Smith was the son of Roswell Smith, a prominent lawyer inLafayette, Indiana, and Annie Ellsworth, daughter of U.S. Patent CommissionerHenry Leavitt Ellsworth. He called the town Roswell, after his father's first name.
In 1877, Captain Joseph Calloway Lea and his family bought out Smith and Wilburn's claim and became the owners of most of the land of Roswell and the area surrounding it. The town was relatively quiet during theLincoln County War (1877–1879). A majoraquifer was discovered when merchant Nathan Jaffa had a well drilled in his back yard on Richardson Avenue in 1890, resulting in the area's first major growth and development spurt. The growth continued when thePecos Valley Railroad arrived in 1892.[9]
During World War II, aprisoner-of-war camp was located in nearby Orchard Park, New Mexico. The German prisoners of war were used to do major infrastructure work in Roswell, such as paving the banks of theNorth Spring River. SomePOWs used rocks of different sizes to create the outline of aniron cross among the stones covering the north bank. Later, the iron cross was covered with a thin layer of concrete. In the 1980s, a crew cleaning the river bed cleared off the concrete and revealed the outline once more. The small park just south of the cross was then known as Iron Cross Park. On November 11, 1996, the park was renamed POW/MIA Park. The park displays a piece of theBerlin Wall, presented to the city of Roswell by theGerman Air Force.
Roswell was a location of military importance from 1941 to 1967. In 1967, theWalker Air Force Base was decommissioned. After the closure of the base, Roswell capitalized on its pleasant climate and reinvented itself as aretirement community.
Roswell has benefited from interest in the allegedUFO incident of 1947. It was the report of an object that crashed in the general vicinity in June or July 1947, allegedly anextraterrestrial spacecraft and itsalien occupants. Since the late 1970s, the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of aconspiracy theory regarding a classified program named "Project Mogul". ManyUFO proponents maintain that an alien craft was found and its occupants were captured, and that the military then engaged in a cover-up. In recent times, the business community has deliberately sought out tourists interested in UFOs, science fiction, and aliens.
Roswell is located in theHighGreat Plains of southeasternNew Mexico,[11] approximately 7 mi (11 km) west of thePecos River and some 40 mi (64 km) east of highlands that rise to theSierra Blanca range. U.S. Routes70,285, and380 intersect in the city. US 70 leads northeast 111 mi (179 km) toClovis and 117 mi (188 km) west toAlamogordo; US 285 leads north 192 mi (309 km) toSanta Fe and south 76 mi (122 km) toCarlsbad; and US 380 leads east 134 mi (216 km) toBrownfield, Texas, and west 164 mi (264 km) toSocorro.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.776 square miles (77.12 km2), of which, 29.716 square miles (76.96 km2) is land and 0.060 square miles (0.16 km2), or 0.18%, is water.[1]
Roswell is located in both theHigh Plains and theChihuahuan Desert and has four very distinct seasons, giving it acold semi-arid climate (BSk) according to theKöppen climate classification. Winters are cool, but usually sunny, andsnowfall can occur. Spring is mild and usually warm, but can still be cold on occasion. Summers are very hot (as is common with the High Plains ofNew Mexico andColorado) and average around 30 days per year when the temperature rises above 100 °F (38 °C), which can be unpleasant. The North Americanmonsoon occurs during the summer, and can bring torrential downpours, severethunderstorms (with high winds andhail) and sometimes eventornadoes. The rain can provide a cooling relief from the scorching great plains heat. Fall is usually warm and pleasant, but can be cold late in the season. Snow is possible generally from late October to March.
The record low in Roswell is −24 °F (−31 °C) on January 11, 1962, and February 8, 1933.[12] The record high is 114 °F (46 °C) on June 27, 1994.[12][13]
Climate data for Roswell, New Mexico (Roswell Air Park), 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1893–present
Roswell, New Mexico – Racial and ethnic composition (NH = Non-Hispanic) Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.[17]
As of the2020 census, there were 48,422 people, 17,929 households, and 11,844 families residing in the city.[18] Thepopulation density was 1,629.5 inhabitants per square mile (629.2/km2). There were 20,220 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 54.8%White, 2.2%African American, 1.5%Native American, 1.2%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 20.9% from some other races and 19.2% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 58.8% of the population.[19] 26.0% of residents were under the age of 18, 6.6% were under 5 years of age, and 15.2% were 65 and older.
The median income for a household in the city was $48,298, and per capita income was $25,906 (2018–2022 in 2022 dollars). In 2022, 23.2% of the population were living below the poverty line.
As of the2010 census, there were 48,366 people, 17,654 households, and _ families residing in the city. The population density was 1,619.9 inhabitants per square mile (625.4/km2). There were 19,743 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 69.9%White, 2.5%African American, 1.2%Native American, 0.7%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 22.1% from some other races and 3.4% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 53.4% of the population. 26.5% of residents were under the age of 18, _% were under 5 years of age, and 15.6% were 65 and older.
Roswell's tourism industry is based onaerospace engineering andufology museums and businesses, as well asalien-themed andspacecraft-themed iconography.[22] A yearly UFO festival has been held since 1995.[23]
Wool Bowl stadium opened in 1968 and hosts high school games
TheRoswell Invaders play in thePecos League of professional baseball clubs. The Invaders wear lime-green uniforms to represent the city's extraterrestrial connections. Home games are played at theJoe Bauman Ballpark.
Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell[32] is a branch of Eastern New Mexico University (headquartered inPortales). The Roswell campus offers several certificate and associate programs. Also, bachelor's and master's programs are available via ENMU's Instructional Television System.
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^"History of the RTS",Millennium Transit Services, October 2011, archived from the original on March 21, 2025, retrievedNovember 2, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
