Taos () is a town in Taos County, in the north-central region of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Chacón to act as fortified plaza and trading outpost for the neighboring Native American

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos language, Taos-speaking (Tiwa languages, Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan peoples, Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. T ...

(the town's namesake) and Hispano communities, including Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, El Prado, and Arroyo Seco. The town was incorporated in 1934. The 2021 estimate has a population of 6,567. Taos is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Taos County. The English name ''Taos'' derives from the native Taos language meaning "(place of) red willows".

History

Taos Pueblo

The

, which borders the north boundary of the town of Taos, has been occupied for nearly a

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

. It is estimated that the pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 A.D., with some later expansion, and the pueblo is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. Located in a tributary valley off the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, it is the most northern of the

pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

s. The pueblo, at some places five stories high, is a combination of many individual homes with common walls. There are over 1,900 Taos Puebloans living within the greater pueblo-area community. Many of them have modern homes near their fields and live there in the summer months, only staying at their homes within the main North or South pueblo buildings during cooler weather. About 150 people live within the main pueblo buildings year-round. The Taos Pueblo was added as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1992.

Spanish colonization

Taos was established c.1615 as ''Don Fernando de Taos'', following the Spanish conquest of the Indian

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

villages. Initially, relations of the Spanish settlers with

were amicable, but resentment of meddling by missionaries, and demands by '' encomenderos'' for tribute, led to a revolt in 1640; Taos Indians killed their priest and a number of Spanish settlers and subsequently fled the pueblo, not returning until 1661. In 1680, Taos Pueblo joined the widespread Pueblo Revolt. After the Spanish Reconquest of 1692, Taos Pueblo continued armed resistance to the Spanish until 1696, when Governor Diego de Vargas defeated the Indians at Taos Canyon. During the 1770s, Taos was repeatedly raided by Comanches who lived on the plains of what is now eastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Juan Bautista de Anza, governor of the Province of New Mexico, led a successful punitive expedition in 1779 against the Comanches. Between 1780 and 1800, Don Fernando de Taos (now simply Taos) was established. Between 1796 and 1797, the Don Fernando de Taos land grant gave land to 63 Spanish families in the Taos valley.Taos History.
Taos Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved July 28, 2014. It was built as a fortified plaza with adobe buildings and is now a central plaza surrounded by residential areas.
National Park Service. Retrieved July 28, 2014. Mountain men who trapped beaver nearby made Taos their home in the early 1800s.

U.S. territory and statehood

Mexico ceded the region to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. After the U.S. takeover of New Mexico in 1847, Hispanics and American Indians in Taos staged a rebellion, known as the Taos Revolt, in which the newly appointed U.S. Governor, Charles Bent, was killed. New Mexico was a territory of the United States beginning in 1850 and became a state in 1912. For historical reasons, the American flag is displayed continuously at Taos Plaza (both day and night). This derives from the time of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, when Confederate sympathizers in the area attempted to remove the flag. The Union officer Kit Carson sought to discourage this activity by having guards surround the area and fly the flag 24 hours a day. Anton Docher, the "Padre of Isleta", first served as a priest in Taos before leaving for Isleta in 1891.

Taos art colony

Beginning in 1899, artists began to settle in Taos; six formed the Taos Society of Artists in 1915. In time, the Taos art colony developed. Many paintings were made of local scenes, especially of

and activities there, as the artists often modelled Native Americans from the pueblo in their paintings. Some of the artists' studios have been preserved and may be viewed by visitors to Taos. These include the Ernest L. Blumenschein House, the Eanger Irving Couse House and Studio—Joseph Henry Sharp Studios, and the Nicolai Fechin house, all of which are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

.Bleiler, 75. A number of Foundations host artist residencies in Taos including the prestigious Helene Wurlitzer Foundation which began hosting painters, writers, composers, sculptors, poets and filmmakers at Casa Encantado in 1954.

Historic sites and tourism

Taos is home to more than twenty sites on the

Pueblos

About north of Taos is

. Picuris Pueblo is located about south.

Taos Fiestas

The Fiestas de Taos is an annual community celebration in the Taos Plaza honoring the feast of the two patron saints of Taos, Santa Ana and Santiago. It is normally celebrated the third weekend of July. A commemorative mass and procession from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church officially opens the event on Friday evening, followed with the crowning of the Fiestas Queen. The celebration continues with musical and dance performances scheduled on the plaza every hour. Two parades are staged, a children's parade on Saturday and the larger Fiesta Parade on Sunday.

Bent Street

Located just north of the Taos Plaza, this street was the location of Governor Charles Bent's home. Governor Bent was scalped and killed by Pueblo warriors during the Taos Revolt on January 19, 1847. During the Taos Revolt, Bent's horses were set free from their stable.

Artists homes and studios

Present

The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Taos that provides free residency to eleven artists, with each year divided into three residency sessions of three months apiece at Casa Encantado. Abbie Conant, former principal trombonist of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and seasonal Taos resident, runs a studio three blocks from the plaza. In addition to the studio having capacity to seat 60, there is also a two bedroom living space. In addition to her and her husband's own performances, the studio has hosted poetry readings, presentations and performance from local Taoseñas and fellows from the Wurlitzer Foundation.

Historic

Many of the historic sites are homes and studios of artists, including the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Eanger Irving Couse House and Studio—Joseph Henry Sharp Studios, the Nicolai Fechin House, the Leon Gaspard House, and the Ernest Martin Hennings House. Doc Martin's restaurant in the historic Taos Inn was previously the office of Thomas "Doc" Martin while other parts of the inn served as his home and the birthplace of the Taos Society of Artists. On Ledoux street, just south of the Taos Plaza, is the Ernest L. Blumenschein House and Harwood House.

Other historic sites

The center of the Taos Downtown Historic District is the Taos Plaza. Just west of that is the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. North of the Taos Plaza is the Governor Charles Bent House and the Taos Inn. Further north in Taos The Bernard Beimer House. On the southwestern edge of the Taos Historic district is La Loma Plaza Historic District. East of the plaza on Kit Carson Road is the Kit Carson House. North of Taos is the Turley Mill and Distillery Site and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Just outside Taos in Ranchitos is the Martinez Hacienda, the home turned museum of the late Padre Antonio José Martínez. South of Taos is the Ranchos de Taos Plaza with the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church. About northwest is the D. H. Lawrence Ranch (originally known as the Kiowa Ranch and now owned by the University of New Mexico), the home of the English novelist in the 1920s. It is believed that his ashes are buried there at the D. H. Lawrence Memorial.

Arts

There are three art museums in Taos: Harwood Museum of Art, Taos Art Museum and Millicent Rogers Museum that provide art from the Pueblo Native Americans, Taos Society of Artists and modern and contemporary artists of the Taos art colony. The town has more than 80 art galleries, and there are several houses of the Taos Society of Artists. There are several local venues for the performing arts in Taos. The Taos Center for the Arts (TCA) draws nationally renowned and local performers at the Taos Community Auditorium. They also present independent film series. Three chamber music groups perform at TCA: Taos School of Music, Taos Chamber Music Group, and Music from Angel Fire. The Harwood Museum of Art is site of other performances and lectures. The Town of Taos Convention Center offers a venue for other local performances. The Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival was a film festival held in the town from the mid-1990s to 2003. The festival's top prize was of land.

Recreation

The Carson National Forest and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument provide many opportunities for recreation, such as hiking, skiing, fly fishing, horseback riding, golfing, hot air ballooning, llama trekking, rafting, and mountain biking. The South Boundary National Recreation trail, east of town in Carson National Forest, is consistently ranked the best mountain bike trail in New Mexico. There are also numerous hot springs along the

and in the Taos Mountains. Ojo Caliente offers locations where visitors can enjoy access to mineral springs as well as massages and other spa treatments. Among hot springs in the area is a historical site called Stage Coach, which used to double as a brothel during the times of the Old West. Nearby, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad provides a ride through the Toltec Gorge and Rocky Mountain passes in an authentic narrow-gauge steam railroad. In the winter, many people come to Taos to ski in the mountains. Nearby Wheeler Peak, at , is the highest peak in New Mexico. The Taos area has four ski areas – Taos Ski Valley, Red River ski area, Sipapu (ski area) and Angel Fire ski area. Other winter activities include hot air ballooning, horseback riding, snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, ski skating, ice skating, ice fishing and snowmobiling.

Demographics

Taos is the principal town of the Taos, NM, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Taos County. As of the 2010 census Taos had a population of 5,716. The median age was 44. The ethnic and racial composition of the population was 40.1% non-Hispanic white, 0.7% African American, 1% Asian, 5.3% Native American, 0.3% non-Hispanics reporting some other race, 5.4% reporting two or more races and 51.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 4,700 people, 2,067 households, and 1,157 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,466 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 68.04%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.53%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 4.11% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.11%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 21.66% from other races, and 4.94% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 54.34% of the population. There were 2,067 households, out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.0% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.87. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 85 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $25,016, and the median income for a family was $33,564. Males had a median income of $27,683 versus $23,326 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $15,983. About 17.9% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 24.4% of those age 65 or over.

Geography and climate

Taos is located at (36.393979, −105.576705). The town has a total area of , all land. Taos is located within two watersheds, categorized as subwatersheds or HUC12s in the United States. The town is mostly located in the Outlet Rio Fernando del Taos Watershed, where its two waterbodies are rated as impaired. A coalition of local organizations are working to improve the watershed's health. The northern edge of town is within the Rio Fernando del Taos- Rio Pueblo del Taos Watershed. Just to the west of Taos is the Rio Grande Gorge, cutting through the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

flows of the Taos Plateau volcanic field and crossed by the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, now a part of U.S. Route 64. The elevation of the town is . Just north of Taos is Wheeler Peak, at , the highest point in New Mexico. Taos has a warm-summer humid continental climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb''), though it borders on a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(''BSk'') due to the low rainfall. The town is characterized by extreme diurnal variations of temperature. Even when summer days get extremely hot, nights cool off considerably.

Mud season

Dirt roads and driveways in Taos can experience a particularly bad mud season when winter weather is followed by unseasonably warm temperatures. This occurs because area soil is heavy with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

, which makes it vulnerable to frost heaving.

Education

The town's public schools operated by Taos Municipal Schools include Arroyos del Norte Elementary School, Enos García Elementary (also Taos Elementary School), Ranchos Elementary School, Taos Middle School, Taos High School and Taos Cyber Magnet School. Charter schools include Anansi Charter School, Taos Academy (State Charter), Taos Municipal Charter School and Vista Grande High School. Also in the area are additional alternative and private schools: Chrysalis Alternative School, Sped Discipline, Yaxche Private School, Taos Christian Academy, and San Francisco De Asis School. The

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

-operated Taos Day School is in nearby

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

-based Southern Methodist University operates a campus at Fort Burgwin in Taos. Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico (UNM) operates a community campus in Taos, with eight affiliated buildings in Taos, such as the UNM Harwood Museum of Art and Taos High School where some classes are held. The Earthship Academy (or Earthship Biotecture Academy) is offering training in Earthship design principles, construction methods and philosophy. Earthship is a particular type of sustainable architecture and design, based around

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

Government

The town of Taos is incorporated under the mayor-council form of government. The town was incorporated on May 7, 1934. The town seal is a logo of the town of Taos with the year of incorporation "1934" in the center, and on the outer edge, the words "Town of Taos, New Mexico". The elective officers of the town include the mayor, four members of the governing body forming the town council, and a municipal judge. The town council is the board of finance of the town. The town manager and finance director serve as the nonvoting members to the board of finance. Key positions within the town government are town manager, appointed by the mayor, Town Attorney, Town Clerk, Town Engineer and Chief of Police. the town officers were: * Mayor: Pascual Maestas; term from April 2022 to March 2026 * Town council members: Nathaniel Evans, Marietta Fambro, Darian Fernandez, and Corilia Ortega. Taos is predominantly made up of Democrats; in 2008, approximately 74% of registered Taos County voters were Democrats, 13% were Republicans and about 13% identified with other parties or declined to affiliate with a party.

Transportation

Public

The RTD Chile Line, operated by the North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD), is Taos' only public transportation system. It provides fare-free in-town service as well as seasonal service up to Taos Ski Valley. The transit system also provides paratransit service for citizens with special needs and ensures that all route buses are American Disability Act (ADA) equipped. The RTD Taos Express promotes local tourism and provides weekend express service, for a nominal fee, from the Taos Plaza to the New Mexico Rail Runner, Santa Fe Municipal Airport, and Santa Fe transit. The North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) has public transportation service into the Town from throughout Taos County and the Counties of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos. The Taos region has service to Cerro, Penasco, Questa, Red River, the Rio Grande corridor and the University of New Mexico – Taos Klaur campus. At the Española Transit Center, passengers can connect to other regional routes, such as Española, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Northern Pueblos area. In 2003 the Regional Transit District Act was enacted, which authorized the creation of Regional Transit Districts (RTD's) in the state of New Mexico; In September 2004, the North Central Regional RTD was the first RTD to be certified by the New Mexico Transportation Commission.

Airports

Taos Regional Airport (SKX) is under the direct supervision of the Town of Taos. The airport is located just a few miles north of the Town of Taos on U.S. Route 64 towards the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Other airports in New Mexico include the Santa Fe Municipal Airport and Albuquerque International Sunport.

Media

Newspapers

''El Crepusculo de la Libertad'' was the first Taos newspaper, which began in 1834 with the first printing press west of the Mississippi. Its successor ''The Taos News'', which also does business as ''El Crepusculo'', is the primary printed newspaper in Taos. * '' The Taos News'', a weekly online and print publication. * ''Sangre de Cristo Chronicle'' (inactive) served Angel Fire, New Mexico, Red River, Cimarron, Eagle Nest, Taos,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Questa and Sipapu. * '' The Santa Fe New Mexican'' * ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was ...

'' North Edition.

Online

'' The Taos News'' provides weekly online publications of their newspaper.

Television

There are two local cable television stations: Taos Local Television Public Access Channel 2 and Channel 22. See also List of television stations in New Mexico.

Radio

Radio stations serving Taos include: (Several stations are located in the adjacent unincorporated suburbs of El Prado and Arroyo Seco.)

In popular culture

Taos has been featured in '' The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca'' (1960) and '' And Now Miguel'' (1966). Country music artist

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

sang a song titled "Taos, New Mexico" on his 1967 album '' Love of the Common People.'' A different song, also called "Taos, New Mexico", was a chart hit for Canadian singer/songwriter R. Dean Taylor in 1972. The song charted in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the US, reaching top 40 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The character Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud in the 1977 television series '' McCloud'', played by Dennis Weaver, was portrayed as being from Taos. In his 1983 novel Christine, writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

states that Leigh Cabot eventually settled in Taos with her husband and twin daughters. A “businessman from Taos” is referenced in the 2022 Charley Crockett song “Tom Turkey.” On September 18, 1991, the PBS television series '' Reading Rainbow'' shot its 73rd episode "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" here. The title was based on a book by Tomie dePaola and was narrated by Harold Littlebird (born 1951). Santa Fe's Dominic C. Arquero introduced himself at this program's beginning. The Volkswagen Taos, introduced in October 2018, is named after the town to pay tribute to its former resident

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

, a structural engineer who authored a Volkswagen repair book in 1969. In Young Justice: Outsiders, Taos is the location of the Meta-Human Youth Center, a community center formed by the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

and STAR Labs to help children and teens victimized by meta-human trafficking.

Taos Hum

An ongoing low-frequency noise, audible only to some, is thought to originate somewhere near this town and is consequently sometimes known as the Taos Hum. Those who have heard the Hum usually hear it west of Taos near Tres Orejas. The Taos Hum was featured in a 1995 episode of the television series '' Unsolved Mysteries'', was mentioned in a 1998 episode of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'' and was featured in a 2018 episode of '' Criminal Minds''.

Sister cities

Taos has one

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

, as designated by Sister Cities International: * Xalisco, Nayarit, Mexico

Notable people

Artists and actors

Sportspeople

* Ross Anderson, skier * Kit Carson, frontiersman * Chris Del Conte, athletic director of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

* Dave Hahn, mountaineer * Danelle Umstead, Paralympic skier

Professors and medical professionals

* Fred Wendorf, Henderson-Morrison Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University * Thomas "Doc" Martin, physician

Authors, poets, and teachers

* Julia Cameron, author of '' The Artist's Way'' * Judson Crews, poet and publisher * James Doss, author * Natalie Goldberg, writer * Margaret Catherine Alice Hyson, missionary and teacher in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico * D. H. Lawrence, author * Anne MacNaughton, poet and cofounder of Taos Poetry Circus * John Nichols, author of '' The Milagro Beanfield War'' * Olivia Romo, poet, spoken word artist and water rights activist * Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, journalist and writer *

, engineer, mechanic and writer * Marilyn Gayle Hoff, author and activist

Businesspeople and architects

* Marcelino Baca, 19th-century fur trader * Mabel Dodge Luhan, patron of the arts * Susan Powter, health and fitness entrepreneur * Mike Reynolds, Earthship architect * Millicent Rogers, socialite, fashion icon, and art collector * Maria Rosa Villalpando (1738-1830) A Hispanic woman who became a captive of the Comanche and later a businesswoman in St. Louis.

Politicians and Military

* Daniel R. Barrone, mayor of Taos and member of the New Mexico House of Representatives * Charles Bent, first Territorial Governor of New Mexico *

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, former two-term governor of New Mexico * John Márquez, politician in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

* Joe P. Martínez,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient * Kristina Ortez, politician * Rebecca Vigil-Giron, 20th and 22nd New Mexico Secretary of State

Religious figure

* Antonio José Martínez, priest

Gallery

File:MabelHouse.jpg, Mabel Dodge Luhan House, a National Historic Landmark File:View of Taos, NM from mountain trail Picture 2000.jpg, View of Taos from mountain trail File:Paseo Del Pueblo Norte in Taos, NM Picture 2006.jpg, Downtown Paseo Del Pueblo Norte in Taos File:First Baptist Church, Taos, NM Picture 2009.jpg, Spanish Revival-style First Baptist Church File:LaFonda Loby.jpg, Lobby of the La Fonda hotel File:Taos mission church.jpg, San Francisco de Asis Church at Ranchos de Taos

Notes

References

External links

*
The Official Taos Vacation Guide
published by the Town of Taos
Taos County Chamber of Commerce

Taos Public Library
{{authority control * County seats in New Mexico Micropolitan areas of New Mexico New Mexico placenames of Native American origin Towns in Taos County, New Mexico Populated places established in the 1610s Taos Revolt