Editing Española, New Mexico (section)

===Railroad era===
[[File:Espanola 1885.png|thumb|left|Downtown Española, 1885]]
[[File:Espanola Depot 1920.jpg|thumb|right|The Española train depot, 1920]]
[[File:Espanola Downtown, 1920.jpg|thumb|left|Townspeople gather at the depot, 1930]]
[[File:Frank Bond 1903.png|thumb|right|175px|Businessman and self made millionaire [[Frank Bond]] was a pivotal part of Española's growth]]

Prior to the arrival from [[Antonito, Colorado]] of the [[narrow gauge]] [[Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]] in 1880, the hamlet on the west-side of the Rio Grande was known as La Vega de los Vigiles in reference to the Vigil family who initially settled that area. The earliest document found indicates that La Vegas de los Vigiles had been populated by 1751, over 100 years before the railroad's arrival. With the coming of the railroad the name of the hamlet was changed to Española. Until 1886, when it was extended to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], Española was the terminus of the line. The Española station included an engine facility along with a roundhouse and [[Turntable (rail)|turntable]] so it could service the locomotives. The facilities were built but torn down or no longer in use after six years; plans for the town had changed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/san%20juan%20branch/espanola.htm |title=Española, New Mexico |publisher=Ghostdepot.com |access-date=August 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204101757/http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/san%20juan%20branch/espanola.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2015 }}</ref> Later popularly known as the "[[Chili Line]]", this was part of an ambitious but unsuccessful proposal to connect [[Denver]] with [[Mexico City]]. 

The route extended into what today is the downtown Española area, and the railroad began selling lots in the area. Anglo merchants, mountain men, and settlers slowly filtered into Española.<ref>''Rio Grande Sun'', Historical Issue on City of Española, 1961–62</ref> [[Frank Bond]] and his brother George, who were [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[emigrant]]s, would later arrive in the city. Together they established the state's largest mercantile and a multi–million dollar wool empire. With them came economic growth and prominence. Española was the headquarters for all the Bond family interests which included over 12 businesses across New Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/newmexicohistori37univrich/newmexicohistori37univrich_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "New Mexico historical review" |access-date=August 3, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmu1pict000-133.xml |title=RMOA - Document |publisher=Rmoa.unm.edu |access-date=August 3, 2014 |archive-date=June 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628231857/http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmu1pict000-133.xml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Frank R. Frankenburger, a business man born in [[Fort Scott, Kansas]], was the first "elected" mayor; he was elected in 1923. The first mayor who was chosen in "popularity" was Frank Bond, in 1907. In 1925 Española was [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] as a city.<ref>''Rio Grande Sun'', Historical Issue on City of Española, 1975</ref> As the population rose, there was a high demand for public education in the city. Española High School was established; it would be the largest school in the area for decades. The first high school in the area, however, was [[Santa Cruz High School (Española, New Mexico)|Santa Cruz High School]]. Two miles away from downtown Española, it opened in 1906 in the historic [[Santa Cruz, New Mexico|Santa Cruz]] area. Neither high school operates after a merger of school districts in 1975.<ref>[http://www.k12espanola.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=216 Brief History of EVHS] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803201151/http://www.k12espanola.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=216 |date=August 3, 2008 }}. Española Public School District. Retrieved on February 28, 2008.</ref>

The importance of the railroad began to lessen as minimal passenger traffic and low shipments forced the railroad to close in 1941, with the tracks removed the following year. Many locals would become unemployed and would follow the railroad to Santa Fe, [[Albuquerque]] and central [[Colorado]] for jobs. Española's population would fall dramatically and many homes in the downtown became abandoned. Most of the locals who remained would turn to farming as a way of life. Many people saw Española as another failed railroad town.<ref>''Denver Rio Grande Rail Road Closes'', Santa Fe New Mexican, 1998</ref> The city removed the railroad tracks and the train depot in the 1960s, and the railroads completely vanished.

{{quote box
| quote = Businesses in Española vigorously opposed the abandonment of the [[D&RGW]]'s narrow gauge in the early 1940s. Their calls for continued rail service were at odds with the grim realities of the marketplace, which had for years rendered the "Chili Line" woefully unprofitable. Although Española was an integral 
part of the saga of railroad construction in the West, it was destined to become one of the region's first notable communities bereft of its trains.
| source = '''When the Railroad Leaves Town''', –Joseph P. Schwieterman<ref name=rail>{{Schwieterman-Leaves-Western|page=199}}</ref> <br /> ''American communities in the age of the rail line abandonment''
| align = center
}}