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is a city in Otero County, New Mexico, United States of America. The population was 35,582 at the 2000 census. The city name is a Spanish word meaning "fat cottonwood". It is the county seat of Otero County. Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range are two major military bases located near Alamogordo. The town has had its share of notability as the first test site for the atomic bomb and home to The White Sands International Film Festival.
Alamogordo was founded in June, 1898, when the El Paso and Northwestern Railroad, owned by Charles B. Eddy, extended the railway to the town. Eddy influenced the design of the community, which included large wide thoroughfares and tree-lined irrigation canals. The name of the city was derived from the cottonwood tree. "Alamo Gordo" in Spanish translates to "fat cottonwood".
Alamogordo's original city plan calls for east-west streets to be given numerical designations, while north-south streets have names that fall into related themes (states, presidents and universities). US 54 becomes "White Sands Blvd." in Alamogordo, however, it was originally named "Pennsylvania Ave".
Several buildings in Alamogordo were constructed by the Works Progress Administration. These include the
at 1101 New York Avenue, a Pueblo style building originally constructed as the main U.S. Post Office in 1938. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The main entrance portico features frescoes by Peter Hurd completed in 1942. The Post Office moved out in 1961, and the building was used by a succession of Federal agencies. It was occupied by the United States Forest Service as the headquarters of the Lincoln National Forest until October 2008, when that agency moved to a newly-constructed building.
Ownership of the Federal Building will be transferred to Otero County government and the building will be used for county government offices.