Before the Manhattan Project and even before the Los Alamos Ranch School, hearty pioneers braved the extreme weather conditions of the Pajarito Plateau and homesteaded the land. More than 30 homesteads were established between the 1880s and 1942, when the federal government took over the plateau for the Manhattan Project. Today, the stories of some of these families are told in a tour, developed by volunteers of the Los Alamos County Fuller Lodge/Historic Districts Advisory Board in conjunction with the Los Alamos County Parks Department and the Los Alamos Historical Society.

A draft of the tour brochure is available by clicking here.

An online version of the tour is available through the links on this page below. By May 18, 2012, historic markers will be available for viewing at the seven sites throughout the county, each placed near the original homestead it represents. This site will be updated as the tour develoment progresses.

For more information on homesteading and the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act, May 20, 2012, please visit the Homestead National Monument of America website. For more information about homesteading in the Los Alamos area, check out Historic Roads of Los Alamos, a book by Dorothy Hoard, one of the volunteers on the Homestead Marker project (and published by the Los Alamos Historical Society).

Site 1 In the Fuller Lodge Historic District, near the Romero Cabin
Harold H. Brook
William Hopper
Martha Brook
A.J. Connell

Site 2 At the Sullivan Field Parking lot
Benigno Quintana
William C. White

Site 3 At Urban Park
Francisco Gonzales

Site 4 At the Golf Course Clubhouse
Pedro Gomez y Gonzales
Juan Gonzales

Site 5 Near Guaje Pines Cemetery
Roman Martinez

Site 6 Next to the North Mesa Tennis Courts
David Quintana
Martin Lujan

Site 7 At the Deer Trap Mesa Trailhead on Barranca Road
Estanislado Gonzales
Noberto Roybal
Donaciano Gonzales
Federico Gonzales
Andres Martinez