SANDIA HISTORY/ARCHIVES PROGRAM
NEWSLETTER
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SANDIA HISTORY/ARCHIVES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER |
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 The Mystery of History: Coyote CanyonBy Michael Anne Sullivan, Consultant to the SNL History Program
The practice of history is a lot like detective work. Much of it is fact checking and plodding investigation. However, sometimes you get a real mystery. Lately, I have been assisting in the historic building assessment of some of Sandia's Coyote Canyon Test Facilities. Most of these investigations are straightforward. I track down the building drawings from the Facilities Library, check the Lab News for stories about the building, peruse old SNL phone books to determine what activities or tests went on there, and search the Corporate Archives collection for more detailed information. But one of the buildings in Coyote Canyon has turned out to be a little more challenging. At first, Building 29071, the Coyote Test Facility School House, seemed to be some sort of training quarters. I assumed that it was a building to train staff involved in various testing programs in Coyote Canyon. Yet, I could not find the building drawings in the Facilities library. The staff of the Facilities Library could not find any information on the CTF School House in their files. I had hit a dead-end. After brainstorming with the Corporate Historian, Rebecca Ullrich and digging in the Corporate Archives I discovered that the CTF Schoolhouse was one of the original structures of the old Coyote Springs community. The building pre-dates both the Army's and Sandia's presence here. Hispanic and Anglo homesteaders first settled Coyote Springs as early as 1892. More homesteaders arrived in the area in the 1910s and 1920s. Never very large, the Coyote Springs community numbered at most 30 scattered settlements. Inhabitants of the area made a living mining, farming, or ranching. The most famous Coyote Springs resident, Adolph Harsch made a living bottling mineral water from the springs and selling it in Albuquerque. After Harsch began bottling Coyote Springs water it became a popular recreational area for Albuquerque citizens. Meliton and Jose Chavez operated a bathhouse and wading pool at Coyote Springs. The US Army Air Corps built Kirtland Field at the base of the Manzano Mountains in 1942. By 1943, the military base had purchased most of the remaining Coyote Springs homesteads. Coyote Springs residents remember attending a one-room stone schoolhouse run by Bernalillo County in the 1930s. Previous anthropological surveys identify the CTF School House as the original Coyote Springs school. However, the current structure identified as the CTF School House is a three-room wood and stucco structure, while the original school is described as a one-room stone structure. I am still in pursuit of building drawings and information that will definitively establish the early use of this structure. I have several promising leads-including the homestead records at the Bureau of Land Management. Given its floor plan, it is likely that the building we know as the CTF School House was actually a home. I also plan to track down the Bernalillo County school records at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. I will keep you posted on how the mystery of the CTF School House turns out. Cultural Resources ManagementOf all the properties assessed this past year, most were not historically significant judging by the eligibility standards for the National Register of Historic Places. However, some of the test facilities included in the renovation plans for the Test Capabilities Revitalization are likely to be found historic. DOE is in the process of consulting with the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) on these facilities, so there will be more news on that next time. Two smaller Sandia facilities were determined to be historically significant and eligible for nomination to the National Register this past year. These are Building 852 and Structure 9800B. As noted above, Building 852—the "dome" or "golf ball" building—turned out to represent Sandia's early outreach efforts to the community. In a completely different vein, Structure 9800B is a firing pit located on Test Site Road. It was determined to be historic both because of its unusual firing pit design and its association with early laser research at Sandia. Neither of these structures will be listed on the National Register or preserved in place. Instead, they will be fully documented and preserved as records in the Sandia Corporate Archives and with the NM SHPO.  Building 852 as the Sandia Sphere of Science.
Picnics and Reunions
Myra O'Canna and Rebecca Ullrich also were delighted to attend the Reunion of Children of Sandia Base (1949-1960). This small gathering in late September provided an opportunity to get to know some folks who grew up on Sandia Base. They helped identify several old photographs, provided stories and information about the early arrangements and construction at the Base, and offered a perspective not usually considered in the history of the site—that of children who watched, listened, and roamed while their parents worked. Rebecca gave a short overview of the early history of the site and Myra spoke of Sandia's 50th anniversary and the time capsule. We're grateful to Sandia retiree Clyde Northrup for inviting us.
Recorded Information
Management Department 09612
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| Last modified: December 16, 2002 |
