History of Espanola

happy with the decision and failure of connection of the railroad, prompting protest. The Española station however, included an engine facility station along with a roundhouse and 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. The railroad would later reach Santa Fe to connect with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in late 1887.

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 incorporated as a city. 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. Two miles away from downtown Española, it opened in 1906 in the historic Santa Cruz area. Both high schools are no longer in existence after a merger of school districts in 1975.

The existence of the railroad began to dissipate as minimal passenger traffic and low shipments forced the railroad to close in the early 1940s. 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. The city removed the railroad tracks and the train depot in the 1960s, and the railroads completely vanished.

Businesses in Española vigorously opposed the abandonment

of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad's narrow gauge during the

early 1940s. Their calls for