Month: March 2021

If you grew up in Los Alamos, there is a pretty strong chance you’ve heard one or two stories about Peggy Sue Bridge. As if our fair city on the hill doesn’t have enough strange origin stories about people, places, and things, we can also lay claim to a bona fide urban legend. An urban legend so typical of urban legends that “the story” has landed on an independent blog site claiming to record “haunted” places all over the United States and made #6 on a Hidden Haunted Places of NM list. Peggy Sue Bridge will also pop up on Pinterest as a haunted hotspot.

I have to say, I don’t recall feeling any ghostly hands trying to shove me into Acid Canyon during high school. Now. Let’s get some perspective on this old tale of woe as debunked in Craig Martin’s book, Los Alamos Place Names. First? The bridge was never actually meant for foot traffic. Yes. Prior to its removal in 1997, the “bridge” did span Acid Canyon from the townsite to Orange Street. However, it was only there because of a gas line. Zia Company built the bridge as a way to hold the line in place over the canyon. (Uh oh! Did I ruin that for you?)

Another urban myth about the identity of Peggy Sue suggests she was a young girl on a tricycle who was unfortunate enough to fall off the bridge. This story began in the 50’s and has various versions depending on the level of embellishment.

Taking another turn, certain versions of the tale have an unknown Zia company construction worker who – for any number of reasons – decided to paint his daughter’s name on the bridge supports. There’s even a version of the story that suggests this little girl met Buddy Holly and inspired the song, Peggy Sue!

The credit for solving the mystery of Peggy Sue goes to Los Alamos resident, Susan Yankovic. During the creation of a public access television special in 1997 prior to the bridge’s removal, she tracked down the origin of the Peggy Sue Legend.

Evidently in 1951, Jerry Rutledge convinced his friend Lennis Taylor to help him paint a girl’s name on one of the bridge supports to impress her with his teenaged devotion. Along with their buddy, Raymond Trujillo, they climbed the bridge supports and slapped some red paint on the bridge in an effort to convince Peggy Sue Cameron the Jerry was just over the moon about her. In a strange twist of events, Susan Yankovic discovered that there was another name painted on the bridge on that day in 1951. Raymond Trujillo decided this was a perfect time to let “Lorraine” know he thought she was the bee’s knees. Funny how nobody remembers poor Lorraine. One might wonder if the name Peggy Sue is just too catchy to let go of. Goodness knows it worked for Buddy Holly!

In any case, as the story goes, the romance of Jerry and Peggy Sue only lasted a few months. Jerry went into the Navy after he left school. Twenty years later when he returned to Los Alamos to visit his then teenaged son, he was flabbergasted when the lad offered to take him to see “Peggy Sue Bridge”. Jerry hadn’t had a clue that his romantic exploits had spawned an urban legend!

Whether you want to talk urban legends, the best trails, or local lore, I’m your girl! I love life in Los Alamos and I’d love to help you in your search for a place to call home in this unique community. Give me a ring and let’s chat!

If you live in Los Alamos for very long… No. That’s not quite right. If you are IN Los Alamos for very long, you’re likely to notice that navigating the streets here isn’t like navigating anywhere else. Not that Los Alamos has super narrow streets like Boston or steep streets like San Francisco. Nope! Our streets are something else altogether and the story of that begins WAY back at the beginning. Yes. THE beginning. Back when Project Y was a secret and the roads were nothing but muddy tracks between buildings. Back in 1942 when the government decided the Ranch School was the perfect place for the Secret City on the Hill.

Meandering Streets with Buildings Set at an Angle

You know what I’m talking about! A tour around the residential streets of Los Alamos can feel just like a Sunday drive. There was no doubt in the beginning that Los Alamos was a “company town”. But there was a big push from the Atomic Energy Commission to make Los Alamos look like something else. This is why developers were asked to preserve as many of the trees as they could. Houses were set at various angles to the street to keep them from looking like orderly rows of Army tents in a military camp. Each dwelling included a yard and residents were urged to keep them green. Sure. It’s impossible today, but back then residents of the government owned housing weren’t charged for water to encourage them to water their grass.

The Myth of 37th Street

The southern end of 37th Street is a short street that connects Trinity Drive to Gold Street. Then it stops and picks up again on the other side of Acid Canyon in the Denver Steels area before hopping across Pueblo Canyon and continuing through North Community. Now. The myth comes in when or if you’ve ever been told that the reason 37th Street is in three distinct pieces is because some poor engineer sat in his office back in Washington D.C. and laid out the streets of Los Alamos without actually seeing the terrain. This myth is just that. A myth!

The truth was that the neighborhoods of Los Alamos were laid out in sections. The grid pattern was laid out in a manner that avoided the canyons, but the neighborhoods weren’t built at the same time. The three sections of 37th Street were part of three different periods of residential growth. And with military precision, the numbered streets were continued regardless of the canyons that might be “in the way”.

Names and Numbers that Aren’t Actually Random

The layout of Los Alamos was actually inspired by William Penn’s layout of Philadelphia. The north/south streets are numbered and east/west streets are lettered. This concept of uniformity was continued into the privatized neighborhoods of Barranca Mesa subdivisions #1, #2, #3 in the 1950’s without the numbers, but following a strict alphabetic pattern. Andanada, Barranca, Chamisa, Dos Brazos, El Viento, etc.

You might find it interesting to note that in the Group 12 neighborhood of modern day Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas, the military deliberately used state names that began with A, but omitted Alaska because Alaska wasn’t a state in the early 1950’s when the streets were named.

In a good number of the privately developed neighborhoods in and around Los Alamos and White Rock the streets have names that follow a theme. Indian tribes, local animals and vegetation top the list. But in White Rock many of the streets were named for relatives and friends of the developers. Of course, there were certain interesting quirks attached to those as well. For example. Civil engineer and early developer of White Rock, John Mendius, named Catherine and Louise Avenues and Richard Court for three of his four children. Not that he intentionally left out his daughter Karen. But the land where the original Karen Avenue should have been, was purchased by a church and the street never happened. Mendius corrected his oversight in the 80’s when he developed Karen Circle on the other side of White Rock. Better late than never, right?

So the next time you cruise down the residential streets of Los Alamos, appreciate the unique flavor of this very special city. The navigational weirdness is actually an important part of our history. And if you’re ready to find your dream home in Los Alamos, give me a call. I’d love to show you around!