Los Alamos, New Mexico

Los Alamos sits atop a mesa in the center of a large valley surrounded by mountains. Appropriately, ‘Hilltoppers’ is the moniker of the Los Alamos High School teams. The town is the home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, founded in 1943. Its wartime purpose was to develop the nation’s first atomic weapons, which were used against the Japanese in 1945. The remote location of this town and limited access roads to the mesa are no coincidence. Security in the 1940’s was of utmost importance. During that time, there was a concentration of brilliant scientific minds among the populace of Los Alamos. As a result, today this upscale community is populated with affluent, well-educated citizenry. The centuries old Puebloan ruins of Bandelier National Monument are 7 miles southwest of Los Alamos. The Los Alamos Little Theatre provides live performances throughout the year.