New Mexico's Historic Places: The Guide to National & State Registers Sites (Adventure Roads Series) [Paperback]

Marci L. Riskin (Editor), Robert J. Torrez (Foreword)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Ocean Tree Books (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0943734401
• ISBN-13: 978-0943734408
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,272,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Treasure Hunt or Tourist Guide?, January 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: New Mexico's Historic Places: The Guide to National & State Registers Sites (Adventure Roads Series) (Paperback)

For the past nine years, my husband and I have driven from Southern California to and sometimes throgh New Mexico to visit his folks for the holidays. This year we had the pleasure of driving through some of the pueblos around Albuquerque. However, for whatever reason, some of the historical landmark signs were illegible. Not to be outdone, we stopped at the Flagstaff, Arizona library to see if there was a guidebook available which would contain this information. After searching the holdings, the very helpful librarian tried Amazon.com and lo and behold, found the first and only book of it type was just published this year. Considering that, as the book points out, people have lived in New Mexico for more than 12,000 years, it is interesting that it has taken this long. This book is a comphrensive listing of over 1700 New Mexican registrar sites made more accessible for the first time. Previously, one had to go to the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division in Santa Fe to obtain this information. It is a remarkable achievement. However, I can't help but compare it to two other state historic place guides which we have enjoyed, CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARKS (1990, 11th edition) published by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and ROADSIDE HISTORY OF ARIZONA (1986) by Marshall Trimble which we found in a used bookstore several years ago. Each guide has a slightly different organization. NEW MEXICO'S HISTORIC PLACES divides the state into six regions and then lists the national and state register sites alphabetically by town or city without a map of towns or cities in each county. Although the sites are listed alphabetically in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, that does not seen to be the case for all cities. The editor, Marci Riskin lists nine steps on "How to Use This Guidebook." That about seven steps too many on a road trip. CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARKS is organized alphabetically by county preceeded by a map of the cities and highways in that county. Within each county, the landmarks are listed numerically by date of registration. Trimble, on the other hand, divides Arizona into five areas with a map of cities and subheadings according to highways. This format, of course, is the easiest to read on a road trip. So, unless you are very familiar with the geography of New Mexico, make sure you have an OFFICIAL HIGHWAY MAP OF NEW MEXICO issued by the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department and the New Mexico Department of Tourism. Perhaps the next edition of NEW MEXICO'S HISTORIC PLACES will be a bit more user friendly, dividing each region by county, with town, city and highway maps, and also providing historic walking tour maps(or where to find them).