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Our short trip to Roswell, New Mexico, consisted of a morning walking through the small downtown area as well as a visit to a UFO-inspired museum.
Roswell Museum and Arts Center
Our first stop was the Roswell Museum and Arts Center, located on the north end of Main Street. It’s open daily from 10am to 6pm. Adult admission to the museum is US$10 and an additional US$5 to the planetarium (as of November 2023).
The museum contains a few permanent exhibitions as well as rotating temporary exhibitions. The first permanent exhibition we visited was Robert H. Goddard: The Father of Modern Rocketry. It recreates the workshop of American engineer, physicist, and inventor Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) and contains photos and artifacts related to his 56 test flights near Roswell between 1930 and 1942.
The next permanent exhibition was West of Beyond: The Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston Collection of the American West. The fine collection of over 2,000 works of art and artifacts was bequeathed to the museum in 1999 by Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston. Rogers was a rancher and oil producer as well as a talented sculptor, and developed a deep interest in the American West during his lifetime. The exhibition opened on October 27, 2006.
The final permanent exhibition was Hurd & Wyeth: Picturing the Hondo Valley, which contains paintings by Peter Hurd (1904-1984) and Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997). Their paintings are well-known for capturing the landscape and culture of southeastern New Mexico.
Finally, we were able to enjoy a temporary exhibition, Guitars from Club Muse. It featured incredible guitar sculptures by artist Roger Sweet, who’s based in Jemez Springs.
Chaves County Courthouse
After the museum, we headed further south into the heart of downtown Roswell. We parked in front of the Chaves County Courthouse, which was built in 1911. It’s topped by a beautiful green-tiled copula and continues to serve as the seat of Chaves County.
Downtown
We then took a walk along Main Street admiring all the alien themed businesses and gift shops before popping into the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which is included in a separate entry.
