Welcome to ALAMOGORDO! Best known for the 1945 Trinity Test....the first Atomic bomb....Alamogordo itself was formed out of need in 1898. With the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad running through town, travelers needed a place to rest and relax during train stops. Hence, the Alamogordo Zoo and Alameda Park (just to your North) were created to entertain visitors. The city was incorporated in 1912. Tourism became an important economic factor with the creation of White Sands National Monument in 1933, which is still one of the biggest attractions of the city today. During the 1950s–60s, Alamogordo was an unofficial center for research on pilot safety and the developing United States' space program. Holloman Air Force Base (to the West) utilized chimpanzees for space flight testing, including H.A.M., the first chimp in space. Fun Fact #1: H.A.M. (standing for Holloman Aero Medical) is buried up on the hilll at the New Mexico Museum of Space History (to the NorthEast). Holloman A.F.B continues to produce quality airmen and women to this day as a training base. Alamogordo, meaning 'Fat / Large Cottonwood' in Sanish, has also sees it's share of historical figures. Most notably, Oliver Milton Lee, Albert Fountain, James Gilliland and even Billy the Kid, have links to the town. Oliver Lee has a state park named for him (to the South) and is buried just off First Street. Fun Fact #2: In 1983, Atari actually buried over 700 THOUSAND Atari 2600 cartridges in the very nearby landfill.....mainly consisting of the E.T-Extra Terrestrial game. This was all urban legend until a search ensued in 2014 and the game cartridges were excavated.
Now that you know a little but about this town, you may claim this cache by answering the following. You may claim the find as soon as answers are sent either thru the app or via a GC message ....but if armchair logging is determined or answers are far from incorrect, cache finds are subject to deletion by the CO.
**Answers must be sent within 7 days of the find log, or the log will be deleted. **
- Locate the train flag / signal control sticks. What 3-digit number is in between East and West?
- Here stands a concrete ________ _______, utilized by the railroad for communicating problems along the line. Constructed in the 1930s, it weighs in at over _________ pounds. (optional: Take a photo of yourself or your GPS with this in the frame, be careful NOT to include the answers to the waypoint fro the sign.)
- You will find a metal art sculpture depicting historical times and famous landmarks important to the City of Alamogordo. The Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia was the only shuttle to land at Holloman on March 30, 1982 to end STS-3. Locate the shuttle and provide how many small windows are depicted. __________
- East / West streets were numbered and North / South streets were named after states. What was the oriinal name for what is now White Sand Boulevard?
- Provide the Copyright date and architects name for the nearby guidance
- Alamogordo was deemed the Most ____________ City
- Thank you for visiting the Oldest Zoo in the Southwest. What 2 words meaning 'WELCOME' are listed on the sign, Spanish and German?
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.