A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base.

The present settlement, established in 1898 to support the construction of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, is an early example of a planned community.

Tourism became an important economic factor with the creation of White Sands National Monument in 1933, which is still one of the biggest attractions of the city today.

Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is a nonprofit shared military/civilian facility that is also the hospital for Holloman Air Force Base.

[11][12]: 167 The city of Alamogordo was founded in June 1898, when the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad, headed by Charles Bishop Eddy, extended the railway to the town.

[31] Plants native to the area are typical of the southern New Mexico foothills and include creosote bush, mesquite, saltbush, cottonwood, desert willow, and many species of cactus and yucca.

[31][33] Because of this and because of the geology of the region, water in the basin is hard: it has very high total dissolved solids concentrations, in excess of 3,000 mg/L.

[52] Alamogordo was founded as a company town to support the building of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad,[13]: 2  a portion of the transcontinental railway that was being constructed in the late 19th century.

[53] Holloman Air Force Base, located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the city limits, is the largest employer of Alamogordo residents, and has a major effect on the local economy.

[54][55] According to the 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs office, as of January 2008 Holloman directly employs 6,111 personnel with a gross payroll of $266 million.

The estimated amount spent in the community, including payroll, construction projects, supplies, services, health care, and education, is $482 million.

Much of the work will be done at Fort Bliss, with some at White Sands Missile Range and some at Holloman Air Force Base.

A 1-800-Flowers call center opened in November 2001 and received $1.25 million in city rent abatements, a 50% reduction in property taxes from Otero County, and $940,000 in plant training funds from the State of New Mexico.

[66] When the company went out of business in 2007, Marietta Baking took over the cookie factory and received interest-free loans, job-training incentives, and partial forgiveness of indebtedness for job creation.

It features a butterfly release, a science fair, activities for children, and information booths from local health agencies and nonprofits.

[80] The Cottonwood Arts and Crafts Festival is put on each Labor Day Weekend in Alameda Park by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce.

Hot air balloons launch from the Riner-Steinhoff Soccerplex and from White Sands National Park and float over the Tularosa Basin.

[97] The race consists of a half marathon, 10K, 5K, or corporate cup relay, and raises money for the needs-based Lady of the Mountain Scholarship Fund at NMSU-Alamogordo.

[100] Both programs are run through Otero PATH, a local nonprofit that encourages preventive measures for good health.

Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is about 10 miles south on U.S. Route 54, offers camping, hiking, and picnicking.

[122] A third private school, Imago Dei Academy, opened in August 2008 and provides a classical Christian education.

In May 2013, Alamogordo's City Commission approved a deal for Canada-based film production company Fuel Industries to excavate the Atari landfill site.

games was discovered after about three hours of digging,[151] and hundreds more were found in the mounds of trash and dirt scooped by a backhoe.

U.S. Route 82 starts at the same point and runs east to Cloudcroft and the mountain communities of Otero County, and then to Artesia.

[158] Z-Trans is the mass transit system, providing paratransit and scheduled service within the city center and to White Sands Mall, Holloman Air Force Base and Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero.

Z-Trans is unusual in that it is privately owned (by Zia Therapy Center, a non-profit), although it does get some local and state subsidies.

[165] Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is a private not-for-profit 99-bed general hospital that serves the Alamogordo area.

[168] Among scientists, Edward Condon, a physicist and a past director of National Institute of Standards and Technology, was born in Alamogordo.

[169] Alan Hale, an astronomer and co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, grew up in Alamogordo and lives in nearby Cloudcroft.

[172] Edward Lee Howard, a former CIA case agent who allegedly gave classified material to the Russians and later defected to the Soviet Union, was an Alamogordo native.