NMDCA News:

The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division has announced the Bataan Memorial Building, New Mexico’s former state and territorial capitol, has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The addition comes following a cross-department effort from a number of New Mexico state agencies to recognize the historic building’s importance to the state’s history and its memorialization of New Mexico veterans.

The Bataan Memorial Building, located at 407 Galisteo Street in Santa Fe, served as the seat of New Mexico’s government for more than 60 years, first as a territory and later as a U.S. state. It housed the executive, legislative, and, for a period, judicial branches of government before a new state capitol was completed in 1966.

The grounds include New Mexico’s Eternal Flame, which memorializes the memory of the men in the 200th Regiment, and the State of New Mexico Veterans’ Services Memorial, added to the property in 1966 and 2005, respectively. More information on this historic building is available HERE.

Collectively, the Cabinet Secretaries of the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, New Mexico Department of Veteran Services, and the New Mexico General Services Department sought the nomination in recognition of the building’s importance. This listing commemorates one of New Mexico’s most important historical structures at a national level, while memorializing the sacrifices made by New Mexico’s veterans.