Palace of the Governors - Santa Fe, NM
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 35° 41.267 W 105° 56.298
13S E 415099 N 3949725
When US took control, the Senate and Legislator met here, and was courthouse until new one built in 1909
Waymark Code: WM11R1D
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 12/07/2019
Views: 1
County of courthouse: Santa Fe County
Location of courthouse: W. Palace Ave. & Washington Ave., Santa Fe
Built: 1610
Architectural style: Colonial, Spanish-Pueblo
"The building was the capitol of New Mexico and the governor's residence during the Spanish Colonial era (1610-1680; 1693-1821) and the Mexican period (1821-1846). After the American occupation (1846) and subsequent formation of the New Mexico Territory, the Palace was the territorial capitol until 1886 and governor's residence until 1909.
"On August 19, 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny and his Army of the West took control of New Mexico in the name of the United States. He raised the American flag over the Palace of the Governors after the last Mexican governor, Manual Armijo, abandoned the territory without a fight. The first American legislature met in the Palace halls in 1847, complete with a seven-member council (Senate) and a 21-member House of Representatives.
"After the Americans took over, the Palace would remain the seat of the New Mexican Territorial Government through the mid-1880s, with only a brief period of Confederate occupation during the Civil War in 1862. At the turn of the 20th century, the building was not only the governor’s residence and home to the capital’s legislative halls, but also housed the secretary and governor’s offices, the territorial library, servants’ rooms, storerooms, a carriage house and stables.
"When the railroad entered New Mexico in 1879, the main line bypassed the capital, instead heading south to the larger city of Albuquerque. Santa Fe suddenly lost the economic and social preeminence afforded it by the Santa Fe Trail. During the early 1880s, the possibility of moving the capital city elsewhere arose. The construction of a new capitol building in 1885, however, allowed Santa Fe to remain the government seat of the territory into the 20th century.
"After the legislative functions moved into the new capitol building, the Palace continued to house offices and the governor’s residence. A historical society within its walls regularly displayed exhibits for the public. When the final residing governor moved out of the building in 1909, the legislature voted to turn the Palace of the Governors over to the School of American Archaeology and the newly created Museum of New Mexico, which still control the building." ~ National Park Service