Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell is the sixth largest city in New Mexico and located in the southeastern portion of the state. Roswell is home to manufacturing and petroleum industries, farming, ranching and dairy production, and is home to a foreign trade zone at the Roswell International Air Center. New Mexico Military Institute has educated some of the nation's greatest minds since 1891, and Eastern New Mexico University – Roswell offers undergraduate, graduate, on-the-job training, and continuing education courses for citizens and employers.
Roswell was founded by Van C. Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, in 1869, who named the settlement after his father. In 1891, the discovery of an major underground aquifer on the Jaffa Ranch, brought the first wave of growth and industry to the area.
Most of Roswell's infrastructure was constructed by German POWs during WWII, and a monument to their achievements can be found at the POW/MIA park near the Spring River.
From 1941 to 1967, Walker Air Force base occupied the space of the Roswell International Aire Center, and was a major training and testing ground during the war. In 1947, it was the site of great controversy, when the Air Force took over investigation of unidentified wreckage found by rancher Mack Brazel, which was claimed by many to be pieces of a crashed alien saucer. The famous Roswell Incident is celebrated annually and is catalogued extensively at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. The base was decommission in 1967, and is now home to manufacturing, Roswell Job Corps, the International Law Enforcement Academy, and Eastern New Mexico University –Roswell.