It's 1879, the final year of the Santa Fe Trail before the trail is made obsolete by the arrival of the railroad. After some rest and recreation in Las Vegas, you leave the Las Vegas Plaza and head toward Santa Fe, on what would later be called South Pacific Street. As you cross Moreno Street you see on your left the newly built Vicente Silva House, at 225 Moreno Street. This house, described as New Mexican vernacular in design, was the home of Sheriff Lorenzo Lopez and would later become a meeting place for the Vicente Silva gang that operated the Imperial saloon and ballroom across Moreno Street on the south side of the Plaza in the 1890s.
Continuing along South Pacific, the road curves to the left and you arrive at El Distrito de las Escuelas, the district of schools. This historic district is named for early Jesuit and Catholic schools located here. Within this district are some of the oldest structures in Las Vegas. Directly across the street is La Casa Redonda, 1409 South Pacific, built ca. 1870. Fourteen adobe rooms surround a central placita, or courtyard. Manuel Romero provided La Casa Redonda to the Jesuit School for Boys and it was headquarters for La Revista Catolica, a leading Spanish-language Jesuit newspaper from 1875-1919.
Next to La Casa Redonda, to the south, is the O.A. Larrazolo House, 1321 South Pacific, built ca. 1880. This was the home of Octaviano A. Larrazolo, New Mexico's governor from 1919 to 1920.
The next house south, 1305 South Pacific, was built ca. 1870 and features a classical Territorial facade and an ornate Victorian door.. Its sidelights and transom windows are Greek Revival details inspired by the Officers Quarters at nearby Fort Union.
On the other side of South Pacific, close to where you are standing, is the Esquibel-Gallegos House, 1402 South Pacific and 1410 South Pacific, built ca. 1870. To its south is 1311 South Gonzales Street, built ca. 1880. It's a good example of New Mexico Vernacular architecture with adobe walls and a simple gable roof.
Further south, at 1208-16 South Pacific, are the Rheua Pearce Houses, built ca. 1846. This row of adobe rooms was the home of Rheua Pearce (1894-1993), an educator and founder of the Las Vegas historic preservation movement.
Across the street, at 111 South Pacific, is the Lorenzo Valdez House, built ca. 1870. Originally built as a territorial style house, the classical porch and Corinthian columns were added later, a Victorian influence borrowed from new arrivals on the east side of the Gallinas River.
One street to the west, at 102 Chavez Street, is the Presbyterian Mission, built 1871-73.
Source: "Las Vegas New Mexico, New Adventures Down Old Trails" by visitlasvegasnm.com.
District Two: El Distrito de Las Escuelas - Visit Las Vegas, New Mexico (visitlasvegasnm.com)