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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Editor’s note: The Journal continues “What’s in a Name?,” a twice a month column in which staff writer Elaine Briseño will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names.
The main gate at Los Alamos National Laboratory during the atomic bomb era. (Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Los Alamos Ranch School emerged atop the Pajarito plateau in 1917, fulfilling the dream of Ashley Pond, a free-spirited businessman from Detroit.
He could have never imagined that the campus, an outdoor sanctuary for burgeoning young men, would become the site of one of the country’s most celebrated, and deadly, scientific achievements – the atomic bomb. The campus also gave rise to Bathtub Row, one of the most prominent and unusually named streets in the area.
Scenes From Ribbon Cutting For New Exhibit ‘Opening Doors: The Oppenheimer House Past And Future’ - 6:01 pm
Los Alamos Historical Society Board President Cheri Trottier cuts the ribbon this afternoon on the new exhibit ‘Opening Doors: The Oppenheimer House Past and Future’ that opened today in the Museum Guest Cottage. This exhibit outlines the history of Master’s Cottage #2, AKA the Oppenheimer House. It also asks for feedback from the public about opening the home. The Historical Society welcomes public input as this project moves forward. Those gathered for today’s ceremony include Los Alamos County Council Chair Randell Ryti, Councilor Denise Derkacs, Historical Society Board member Wendy Hoffman, Historical Society Executive Director Elizabeth Martineau, Bathtub Row Press Director Sharon Snyder, Archivist Rebecca Collinsworth, Curator Don Cavness, Registrar Stephanie Yeamans, Museum Shop Manager Todd Nickols, Museum Educator Aimee Slaught
Snyder: What’s In A Name, Even For A Goose? - 7:37 pm
Homer and Edna enjoying a sunny day with friends at Ashley Pond. Photo by Sharon Snyder
Homer Pickens and Smokey Bear in the plane that will take them to Washington DC. Courtesy/U.S. Forest Service
By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society
Two snowy white geese on Ashley Pond have captivated the community in the past months. The male goose, Homer, has lived on the pond for several years, but in January, an elegant companion was seen swimming next to him. She was soon referred to as Homer’s “girlfriend,” his “feathered beauty,” and sometimes “Homer’s Honey.”
Snyder: Chief Mechanics House Saw Many Changes
By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society
The oldest continuously lived-in house in Los Alamos was built on the Los Alamos Ranch School campus in 1925 and was known as the Chief Mechanics House.
It is still the neighbor of the old Guest Cottage that today houses our History Museum.
In the first years of the ranch school, three brothers from Española came to work on the Pajarito Plateau. Jim Womelsduff hired on as the school’s wrangler and ranch foreman, responsible for the entire physical plant buildings, roads, water system, power plant, and power lines.
Snyder: From A Pointed Roof To Living Room Of Scientists - 7:20 am
By Sharon Snyder
Los Alamos Historical Society
In the first three years of the Los Alamos Ranch School (LARS), the masters and boys all lived in a large, two-story log building known as the Big House. It contained rooms for students and masters, sleeping porches for the boys, a small library, classrooms, a kitchen and dining area, and a common room with a large fireplace.
Perhaps with an eye to the future, LARS Director A.J. Connell had a square wooden structure built to the west of the Big House c.1920. The plain frame building couldn’t have been called aesthetic, but it offered quarters for two masters, each room with space for a desk and dresser and a bed on a sleeping porch. The new accommodations were soon referred to as the Pyramid, an appropriate name for a building with a four-sided pointed roof. The masters who moved into the Pyramid gained privacy but left behind modern amenitie