| Alamogordo, New Mexico |
Limousines in Alamogordo |
Website Links For Alamogordo |
Information AboutAlamogordo, New Mexico |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO | |
| cities in new mexico | |
| otero county, new mexico | |
| county seats in new mexico | |
| micropolitan areas of new mexico | |
| settlements established in 1898 | |
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GEOGRAPHY Alamogordo is located at 32°53'45" North, 105°57'8" West (32.895940, -105.952134). According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 50.1 Km&2 (19.4 Mi&2 ). 50.1 km&2 (19.4 mi&2) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water. DEMOGRAPHICS As of the Census of 2000, there were 35,582 people, 13,704 households, and 9,729 families residing in the city. The Population Density was 710.0/km&2 (1,839.0/mi&2). There were 15,920 housing units at an average density of 317.7/km&2 (822.8/mi&2). The racial makeup of the city was 75.35% White , 5.58% African American , 1.05% Native American , 1.53% Asian , 0.17% Pacific Islander , 12.07% from Other Races , and 4.25% from two or more races. 31.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 13,704 households out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were Married Couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,928, and the median income for a family was $35,673. Males had a median income of $28,163 versus $18,860 for females. The Per Capita Income for the city was $14,662. 16.5% of the population and 13.2% of families were below the Poverty Line . 23.9% of those under the age of 18 and 11.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. ATARI BURIAL GROUNDS In 1983, with the video game industry they had helped create came crashing down around their ears, Atari warehouses were filled with millions of unsold game cartridges they had optimistically overproduced, including 5 million ''E.T.'' Cartridges . Basing a video game on a movie rather than an established arcade hit or a tested game premise (and expecting it to sell simply because of the popularity of the film) was a questionable enough decision, but the poor quality of the finished product was unprecedented. Atari rushed ''E.T.'' through development in about 6 weeks (less than 1/3 of the usual game development period) to get it onto the market in time for Christmas, and the result was a virtually unplayable game with a vastly sub-standard plot and graphics in which frustrated players spent most of their time leading the E.T. character around in circles to prevent him from falling into pits. According to Atari's then-president and CEO, "nearly all of them came back." Some other video game manufacturers attempted to rid themselves of excess inventory by selling it at sharply reduced prices, but Atari, stuck with millions of games and consoles — along with prototypes and limited runs of experimental Atari 2600 hardware like the questionable Mindlink system, a control method for the 2600 based on mind-control — that were largely unsellable at any price, sent fourteen truckloads of merchandise from their plant in El Paso, Texas , to be dumped in a city landfill in Alamogordo in late September 1983. In order to keep the site from being looted, D9 Caterpillars crushed and flattened the games, and a concrete slab was poured over the remains. GRAVE OF HAM, FIRST CHIMP IN SPACE Ham was the world's first astrochimp, trumpeted by the United States as "the first free creature in outer space". He blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida , on January 31 , 1961 , and traveled 155 miles in 16.5 minutes before splashing down safely in the Atlantic. After Ham died in 1983 at age 27, his body was shipped west and was buried in the front lawn of the International Space Hall Of Fame in Alamogordo, under the first slab of natural-tone concrete poured in Otero County. TRINITY SITE: SITE OF THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB The very first Atomic Bomb in history was detonated at the Alamogordo Test Range on July 16, 1945 . The site of the explosion, called Trinity Site , is located property owned by the present-day White Sands Missile Range . This was the only Nuclear test that took place at this location. WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT Nearby is the White Sands National Monument , a U.S. National Monument located about 15 miles (25km) to the Southwest. The area is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley area and comprises the southern part of a 275-square mile (710km&2) field of white Sand Dune s composed of Gypsum crystals. BOOK BURNINGS Alamogordo briefly made international news in 2001 when some residents held a public Book Burning of children's books in the Harry Potter series. The people behind the burnings stated the belief that the books had Satanic origins and influenced children to take up Witchcraft . Several hundred others protested the event. TRANSPORTATION Major Highways EXTERNAL LINKS |
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