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Posts Tagged ‘museum’

Mineral Museum in Socorro

September 30th, 2009

Upon the campus of the lies one of the great treasure troves of the southwest. Gold, silver, and precious gems, the objects of the Conquistador’s travels and travails, glitter on glass shelves next to other spectacular mineral forms. This El Dorado was given the honorary title “Coronado’s Treasure Chest” by the New Mexico Cuarto-Centennial Commission in 1939.

The mineral museum can trace its origins back to the very beginnings of the New Mexico School of Mines in 1889. The collection was assembled to help in the education of engineers and geologists. It was soon built into one of the finest in the world, winning gold medals at the St. Louis World’s Fair 1904 and the Panama-California exhibition of 1915. Three thousand mineral specimens in 1938 have grown to over 15,000. Coronado’s Treasure Chest is still renowned as can be seen at invited exhibitions at the Denver and Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows and featured articles in mineralogical magazines from around the world.

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Posted in Museums, Socorro, Things To Do, Videos

Tags: museum

El Camino Real Heritage Center

September 30th, 2009

El Camino Real International Heritage Center
(ECRIHC) is one of New Mexico’s newest State Monuments, dedicated in November 2005. The Center contains award winning exhibits, interpretive learning center, and artifacts presenting the history and heritage of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro – the Royal Road to the Interior. Colonists from Mexico and Spain entered New Mexico from 1598 until about 1885 along El Camino Real. Many of the people living in the Southwest today are decendents of these early settlers along the trail, extending from Mexico City and the port city of Veracruz to Santa Fe and beyond, a distance of over 1,500 miles.

Today, Interstate 25, from Las Cruces to Santa Fe, closely parallels the route of El Camino Real through New Mexico. El Camino Real is our country’s oldest, and longest continuously used “highway,” bringing European colonists to “New Spain” (New Mexico) beginning 22 years before the Mayflower. It has been designated a National Historic Trail.

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Posted in Museums, Things To Do, Videos

Tags: El Camino Real history museum

Albuquerque Museum

July 23rd, 2009

The Albuquerque Museum is located in the in the heart of historic Old Town and just across the street from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Explora, the Children’s Science Museum —as well as our closeness to many other memorable attractions.

That is perhaps why The Albuquerque Museum is an enjoyable experience for so many visitors each year: one-third of our guests are nonresidents. It’s easy for them to reach us from the interstate, and there is plenty of available parking. There is great recognition of, and support for, art in our community. It also means we are able to offer a wide range of attractions and programs with only modest charge to the public.