I think there are two things that almost all Los Alamos Public Schools alumni can agree upon. One: the education a student receives from the schools in Los Alamos is excellent! Two: the education a student receives from the schools in Los Alamos tends to be unconventional.

Why unconventional? If you spend any time at all on Central Avenue you’ll probably notice a LOT of tour busses, out of district yellow school buses and a significant number of vehicles with out of state plates. They’re coming to Los Alamos to learn about science. To study history. To follow the US Parks Service Tour of the Manhattan Project Historical Sites. But they’re all here to learn. The actual source of what they want to learn is part of the daily lives of average citizens here in Los Alamos. So I suppose living here in town means you’ve got access to a lot of knowledge!

I’ve heard stories of fellow LAHS alumni bemoaning that their Physics teacher actually wrote the textbook. We have outdoor classrooms and guest speakers from LANL in all of our schools from elementary to high school. When Jean Nereson was still teaching in the elementary schools, she utilized teaching aids she had literally brought back from her travels to every continent on the planet. She wasn’t the only one. Our teachers have traditionally been some of the most intelligent and capable scientists, doctors, historians, writers, and musicians in their own right. And that’s before we take into account the incredible cooperation between UNM-LA and our public schools or the possibility of a high school internship at a National Laboratory.

But that unconventional and sometimes eclectic education began much earlier than the scientific laboratory. In fact, it started at the beginning. When AJ Connell approached Yale graduates and asked if they’d like to sign on for an adventure!

Come on! What could be more adventurous than signing on to teach between 6 and 9 boys of varying ages at a high mountain ranch school far from “modern” civilization in an area so remote that you had to grow your own food? In 1918 that was the status of Ashley Pond’s and AJ Connell’s Los Alamos Ranch School.

In September of 1918, AJ Connell was joined at the Los Alamos Ranch School by Fayette Samuel Curtis, Jr. “Fay” Curtis, as he became known, had only just graduated from Yale in June. He’d been struggling to overcome tuberculosis, and he would be responsible for teaching all subjects because that’s all the school could afford one master.

The only goal at the Los Alamos Ranch School was that the students would show success and development. They were to learn. How the masters managed this was left entirely up to them. Which is probably why the boys learned so much, so well, and went on to become amazing members of society.

One LARS graduate later recalled shooting craps with the masters using algebra problems and latin lines as currency and allowing luck to determine whether the students had more or less homework. Fermor Church, the school master who later married Ashley Pond’s daughter Peggy, utilized environmental attributes such as the slope of ski hills to illustrate gradients, help students understand geometry, and also as a way to demonstrate principles of physics and geology. He was also known for demonstrating gravity by having boys plunge their hands into boiling water at ten thousand feet altitude!

It seems to me that the largest benefit of the way LARS was run was that school masters and staff were encouraged to continue their own learning. Oddly enough I often think that the fireplace in Fuller Lodge hosted many of the same kind of discussions the beer garden at Bathtub Row Brewery does now. The common denominator is young, highly educated, intelligence professionals. They love to gather and chat about the latest advancements in their fields, possible ways to get more information about new ideas. How to test hypothesis and develop new and better ways to do things. This is how great learning happens. And here in Los Alamos we’ve got this down to an art. Or perhaps a science…

Regardless of your educational background, I hope that as we come to the close of this school year, you consider all the ways in which you and your family can keep the positive learning happening this summer. Attend Science Fest! Hit the PEEC for their summer programs. Attend a talk, a concert, or see a play. The best ways to learn in Los Alamos don’t always happen in the classroom! And when you’re ready to join our unique community on the hill, give me a call! I’m a hometown girl who would love to chat about real estate in Los Alamos with you!

There’s no doubt that Los Alamos residents have a long love affair with Camp May. I’ve heard some fairly interesting theories from friends and acquaintances over the years about why it’s called Camp May. One hypothesis was that it’s unusable until at least May. But while that might be true for some, Camp May’s proximity to the Pajarito Ski Area doesn’t suggest that’s the story behind the name.

Camp May is considered a Los Alamos Campground and is now managed by the county. Back when George and Edith May gifted a fine log cabin to the Los Alamos Ranch School, (which is how Camp MAY got its name!), the land where the cabin was placed belonged to the Forest Service. The Ranch School leased several parcels of Forest Service land for recreation areas. These recreation areas allowed the school to have and utilize base camps for outdoor activities like hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking, and weekend outfitting trips that would have otherwise been difficult to stage from the Big House at the main ranch.

Camp May was most popular with boys from the Spruce Patrol who were older and more experienced. Camp May’s location was higher in elevation than other ranch recreation areas. It saw more snow and more wildlife. You might say it was considered “rougher”. Which is why I find it so very interesting that Camp May was the location of Peggy Pond Church’s week long honeymoon with Los Alamos Ranch School Master, Fermor Church!

The sweet bride received a Colt six shooter and a holster as a betrothal gift and Fermor taught her to shoot on their honeymoon. Peggy’s writings include some thoughts about that experience. Not that she’d been angry or disappointed, but that she might’ve wanted something a bit “sweeter”. Evidently the loud hailstorm on the metal roof and the wood stove belching smoke into the cabin made for an unusual honeymoon. Imagine that! You can read more about Peggy and Fermor on the Los Alamos Historical Society’s blog HERE.

These days Camp May boasts 9 overnight camping sites, fairly modern restrooms, several large group gathering areas, and quick access to some of the best hiking and mountain biking in our area. The other thing Camp May is known for is fall leaves. It’s possible to get some gorgeous photos of colorful Aspen trees in the fall. And overnight camping is available April thru October. (See? You can visit Camp May before May!) If you’re looking for a fun family activity, try tent camping up at Camp May during the height of the changing leaves and get a beautiful holiday family photo to go with your fall break vacation! Camp May is a popular photo location for senior pictures and other major events too.

Something else you might not realize is that the location of Camp May played a big part in the placement of our local ski hills. In the late 1930s, Fermor Church’s nephew Herbert “Hup” Wallis used Camp May as a base to clear some land on Sawyer’s Hill and also on Pajarito Mountain for the boys to ski and sled. Eventually these clear cut areas were used by scientists on the Manhattan Project for winter sports. Of course, there’s no way Hup Wallis strapped explosives to the trees to blow up an area for a ski run. But I’m pretty sure Hup and his crew worked hard with their hands to clear those runs as the boys of the Los Alamos Ranch School did with everything else.

If you’d like more information about the history of skiing in Los Alamos, check out a previous post here. And when you’re ready to join our unique little community on the Pajarito Plateau, give me a call! I’m a hometown Los Alamos girl and I love to talk real estate in Los Alamos!

Check out this description from a Spring 1917 brochure for the Los Alamos Ranch School written by S. F. Bemis:

Los Alamos Ranch: An Outdoor School for Boys

The principle aim of the school is to take advantage of the unexampled natural features of the best part of the great Southwest in a way to build up the constitution of boys from eastern cities by an active but well-guided outdoor life. The climate of Los Alamos is particularly favorable to this; its altitude is especially conducive to strengthening the circulatory and respiratory organs; the clean pure ozone that drifts down from the peaks of the Rocky Mountains is the greatest natural revivifier to be found anywhere on the continent.

…It is hoped that the time spent at the Los Alamos Ranch: (1) in natural development of the body by such exercises as horseback riding, mountain climbing and other recreation in this truly wonderful country; (2) attracting the boys’ attention to the mind-quickening activities of outdoor life, such as marksmanship, exploration, map-making, the study of the habits of wild animals, the floral and mineralogical features of the land, will on the whole produce that perfect health that is the aim of the school, and that elevation of spirit which is essential to future success. A good digestion, a bounding pulse, and high spirits are true elements of happiness that no external advantages can out-balance.

This brochure excerpt can be found in the book, Los Alamos: The Ranch School Years by John D Wirth and Linda Harvey Aldrich. As I was reading this excerpt, I couldn’t help but think about a conversation I had the other day with a friend of mine who is a mental health provider. We’d spoken of this general sense of the “blahs” infecting almost everyone these days. Folks are depressed and anxious, but are finding it difficult to put their finger on exactly why they’re feeling this way or how to make it better.

Sure. The world is a pretty crazy place right now. But beginning with quarantine sometime in 2020, it strikes me that many of us have stopped being active. In the beginning we weren’t supposed to leave home. If you did, you were asked to wear a mask outdoors and indoors. The digital world is pretty darned enticing like that too. It’s possible to open an app on your phone and dive down a rabbit hole of videos, memes, and social media posts as well as news and entertainment information. Hours later you might suddenly look up and realize you’ve lost the entire day without moving off your couch!

Back in the nineteen hundreds, folks in large cities often stayed indoors doing little to nothing in the way of outdoor activities or physical pursuits if they could. This became a habit because of the poor air quality. Young people often had lung problems or were chronically ill or seemed “sickly” because of the lack of physical movement, sunlight, and outdoor activities. You couldn’t even see the sun on most days due to the fog of pollution hanging over cities!

Imagine what it must’ve been like for those boys to come to Los Alamos. Our sky is brilliant blue. Our air is clearer here than in many other places. Even after several forest fires the scenery is stunning and there are so many places to hike, bike, walk, run, and enjoy the outdoors.

After a very wild winter full of big temperature swings, a good amount of needed precipitation, and way too many cloudy days, we ALL need some sun, fresh air, and activity! If you’re feeling sluggish or having a lot of “blah” days, get out and enjoy our lovely community! Take a hike. Check out the county’s trail maps or find a nature walk to enjoy. Hit the Mainstreet Los Alamos page and look for new activities coming up outdoors. Start training for a 5K run or walk. Get outside and ENJOY Los Alamos!

And if you’re ready to join our community or you’re looking to buy or sell your home here in Los Alamos, give me a call! I’m a hometown Los Alamos girl and I’d love to chat real estate in Los Alamos with you!

Advertising is both simple and complicated these days. Sure. Almost anyone can do some basic graphic design and slap an ad on social media. Making a 3 minute video is easily accomplished on your phone. But trying to actually get the word out to a specific market when folks are being flooded with so much information every second of the day takes thought.

How much more thought would it have taken to advertise an exclusive boarding school for boys? Then add in the fact that the Los Alamos Ranch School was in the middle of nowhere. We are still in the middle of nowhere. But life before Google Maps, satellite imagery, and in an age when newsprint ads had to be physically sent to a printing office would have made things even more difficult!

So how did the Los Alamos Ranch School get the word out? Brochures. Lots and lots of brochures. While some of these have survived time and are preserved deep inside the Los Alamos History Museum Archives, Ashley Pond Junior’s first brochure in 1917 carried the title, “An Outdoor School for Boys”. And that is how they sold the school.

There was no doubt that attendance was a major concern of the ranch school. The program was certainly worth the pricey tuition. In 1935, Los Alamos was the first western boarding school to have an examiner on the College Board. Art Chase was the first to serve on the English Board, followed by Harry Walen. In 1926 and again in 1936, a graduate of the Los Alamos Ranch School was ranked #1 in the freshman class at Princeton.

Anecdotal tales from graduates of the ranch school recall the individualized educational opportunities. “Virgil in the Wilderness” when students trekked into the mountains to learn Latin or read poetry. When they were encouraged to expand their minds while using their hands. Laboratory equipment was in short supply, but the Los Alamos Ranch School Masters were young, intelligent, and always finding ways to demonstrate concepts in the real world with equipment handy around the ranch.

School Masters were recruited from the best graduating college classes around the country. Men like Lawrence Hitchcock and Art Chase set a precedent for Masters to continue studies in their field. They would leave the ranch school for a semester or two, or perhaps a shorter time, and do advanced work in their field. Then they would return and share what they’d learned with the students. It was a varied curriculum, and yet the very way this was set up advertised the Los Alamos Ranch School from coast to coast. Our graduates were showing up in college lecture halls with robust health, great minds, and a desire to learn and put that education into practice. It made for the best kind of advertising!

And the rest of the advertising was done via photographs. Photos in magazines Large photo spreads in newspapers and brochures. Photos of the ranch students were sold and used as postcards and holiday greeting cards. And why not? This is still happening today! How many times do you travel up or down our Main Hill Road and see folks in the pullouts taking pictures with whatever device they can lay hands on?

Most of the photos used to advertise the school featured the boys outdoors in dramatic scenery. Most were student photos or those taken by the Masters while out on patrols or camping. All are absolutely stunning.

So next time somebody wants to know what’s so great about Los Alamos, just whip out your phone and take a picture for them. Our dramatic scenery, amazing history, and long standing tradition of outdoor pursuits makes this a special place to live. I feel lucky to be a part of this community and when you’re ready to join me, give me a call. I’m your hometown real estate broker and I’d love to talk Los Alamos real estate with you!

Ashley Pond is something most of us take for granted. It’s a place we gather. It’s a huge part of our community and it’s the central focus of quite a lot of life in Los Alamos. Sometimes we just call it “the Pond”. Truthfully, were it not for Ashley Pond the person, (Ashley Pond Junior of course!) we wouldn’t be living here on the Pajarito Plateau enjoying a not necessarily unusual snow day in March.

I’ve been digging into Los Alamos history a lot lately because we all seem fascinated with it and I find myself intrigued about exactly how our wonderful town seems to exist when it would be almost impossible to simply stumble upon this area on accident. This has led me to some rather interesting parallels between Ashley Pond and Los Alamos and the Pajarito Plateau as a whole.

Ashley Pond Junior was the only surviving son of Ashley and Harriet Pond. That’s not all that unusual for the time period. Children’s health was a national and global concern at that time. Ashley Junior had health issues from the beginning, but his parents were determined to throw their considerable resources at his health issues to give him the best chance to be their surviving child.

Ashley Senior was a lawyer. When Ashley Junior was born in 1872, his father was a director of the Michigan Central Railroad. He was also the chief midwestern counsel (lawyer) for Cornelius Vanderbilt. Ashley Senior was said to be stoic, businesslike, and totally lawyer like in personality. His surviving child was the polar opposite. He was honest, eager, gregarious, and often became the target of unscrupulous business schemes because he had a core belief in the inherent honor and fair play of others. His personal philosophy was that everything in life could be boiled down to two things. Right or wrong. This was a philosophy he brought with him to New Mexico and the Los Alamos Ranch School.

The fact that Ashley Pond Junior was the polar opposite of his stoic, lawyer like father is only one reason why the journey he made through his life is so very parallel to the one that Los Alamos itself has made.

Ashley Junior’s first experience in New Mexico happened around 1899 or 1900. In 1898 he joined up with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and had hopes of going to Cuba to see action. Instead he wound up taking care of the horses in Tampa, FL because he became deathly ill with typhoid fever and was considered too sickly for active duty. His father sent him to a ranch near Catskill, NM. Catskill is now on the register of historic places in NM.

The only thing remaining of the original town in Colfax County are 25 brick structures shaped like beehives. These charcoal ovens are the only remainder of an enormous charcoal manufacturing operation. Charcoal had to manufactured in large quantities for metal smelting operations going on across the nation. There were 9 lumber camps in and around the Catskill area and the pine was cut down to fit inside the ovens as part of the charcoal manufacturing process. I can only imagine how the wild terrain, enormous lumber operation, ranching, and the connection to steel mills back east affected Ashley Pond Junior.

It didn’t take Pond very long to embrace life in New Mexico to the fullest. 30 year old Ashley Pond Junior fell in love with the 17 year old daughter of a Watrous rancher named Hazel Hallett. The couple married in 1903 and Peggy Pond was born right away. She was the eldest of three Pond children and the most well known here in Los Alamos because of her enormous contribution of photographs, books, information, and other history of our area.

The Pond family didn’t last long in Watrous. Ashley Junior was all set to start a school on ranch land he’d purchased in the area, but a flood on the Mora River wiped him out. This brief setback caused him to return to Detroit where he accepted a position as a vice president for Pontiac.

It’s hard to reconcile the idea of our Ashley Pond running a company like Pontiac. Marriage to Ashley Junior was difficult. Hazel often took the kids and went to live with her family as Ashley tried one venture or another. Most of his dreams collapsed and almost all of them involved New Mexico.

He ran a farm in Roswell, NM, which sounds a bit ambitious if you’ve spent much time down there in the wind, sun and sand. The family lived in a metal building which Hazel tried to spruce up with family antiques and imported rugs.

Meanwhile, Los Alamos wasn’t in much better shape. The Ramon Vigil Land Grant encompassed 32 thousand acres of grass and wooded land on the Pajarito Plateau. This land grant itself has come under scrutiny multiple times, (this eventually affected the building of Pajarito Acres too!) the grant had been purchased by midwestern based investors in the 1880s who essentially stripped the land of its resources through lumbering and overgrazing cattle. In 1900 Harry Buckman logged the same land for his lumber company, establishing the town of Buckman in White Rock Canyon as a shipping point. By 1903 the landscape was mostly tree stumps. Homesteaders had been on the Pajarito Plateau for decades by then but Harold H Brook and several investors purchased the land grant but never got around to doing much with it before going broke and dumping the land on a Santa Fe bank.

This is when Ashley Pond Junior and the Pajarito Club came on scene. (more about that HERE) Ashley Junior was determined to make the Pajarito Plateau his haven in New Mexico and he did everything possible to make that happen. It’s so incredible how similar the journeys of the land and the man seem to be. Ashley Junior’s Los Alamos Ranch School grew and thrived for twenty-five years. Compared to the others who owned or worked the land before he came on scene, that was an enormous amount of time.

Ashley Junior’s determination, passion, and dreams were the thing that caused Los Alamos to bloom. Historians have credited his willingness to think outside the box, his ability to charm those around him with his genuine enthusiasm and honor code, and his networking capabilities as the reason behind the school’s success. He integrated himself and the Los Alamos Ranch School in the community of the Pajarito Plateau. Homestead families were a huge part of the ranch school’s day to day running. The families in the Espanola Valley were part of that community as well and in return they became invested in the future of Los Alamos as well. As they still are today.

I think it’s really important to remember that Ashley Pond and his right hand man AJ Connell didn’t close the Los Alamos Ranch School because it failed or because it had run its course. The Parker Schools, Ashley Junior’s inspiration for the Los Alamos Ranch School, are still in operation today. It’s entirely reasonable to think that had Robert J Oppenheimer not been just as obsessed with New Mexico as Ashley Pond Junior, he never would’ve picked the ranch school as his Manhattan Project site. Had Oppenheimer not picked Los Alamos, the ranch school might very well still be in operation. How is THAT for an alternate timeline plot?

In short, what this means is that the longest standing traditions and purpose in Los Alamos are health and learning! No wonder we’re a top contender for the healthiest place to live in America. It’s just who we are! And when you’re ready to join our community, give me a call! I’m a hometown Los Alamos girl and I’d love to talk Los Alamos housing with you.