the cloudhaus in cloudcroft, new mexico

With the rise in popularity of Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture across the United States, there was the need for roof tiles and associated decorative pottery. Seeing an opportunity for a source closer the the east, Rowland Hazard established La Luz Pottery Factory at the confluence of La Luz and Fresnal creeks, an outcrop of red clay in 1930, and the railroad line between Alamogordo and Cloudcroft. The factory churned out roof tiles, saltillo tiles, Mediterranean pottery, urns, and chimney tops. The company sold tiles in 44 of the 50 states and in several foreign countries, having a showroom in New York City. Besides many of the origianl buildings, the site still has its tall chimney, part of the large down-draft kiln used to fire La Luz products. Operators fired the kiln with fuel oil. A smaller kiln and chimney were used to test glazes and new items. The Tularosa Basin Historical Society , owners of the site, plan to rebuild the smaller chimney.  World War II and the loss o...

  One of the residents on Geronimo is Dr. Alan Hale who, along with Thomas Bopp in Glendale, Arizona, were the first two folks to identify the comet, hence the name. Dude also has an asteroid named after him . Also back in 1995 I formed a one-off band with Dixon Coulbourn called The Hale-Bopp Trio to play an art opening in Austin, Texas.