Event Details

Join New Mexico Historic Sites and the Friends of Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site on Saturday, August 24 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. for a celebration on what would have been J. Paul Taylor’s 104th birthday. J. Paul and Mary Daniels Taylor loved Mesilla and the Mesilla Valley. Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site Family Day celebrates the region they loved with music, dancing, and family-friendly activities and booths highlighting the history and culture of the Mesilla Valley. The Wonder on Wheels mobile museum will also be on the Plaza with the exhibit “Growing New Mexico,” created by the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site is excited to celebrate the grand opening of the Reynolds Center – the visitor center for the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site – and its premier exhibit, “Mesilla: A Place of Growth and Change” during Family Day.

Schedule of Events:

9:00 a.m. – Mariachi Estrellitas

9:15 a.m. – Department of Cultural Affairs Remarks

9:30 a.m. – La Marcha, featuring kindergarten, first, and second graders from the J. Paul Taylor Academy

9:45 a.m. – Mariachi Estrellitas

10:00 a.m. – Mariachi Aguilas

10:00 a.m. – In the Reynolds Center: A presentation from the J. Paul Taylor Academy gifted students

10:30 a.m. – Danza Prehispánica

11:00 a.m. – Boot Boogie Babes

11:30 a.m. – Ballet Folklorico La Academia Dolores Huertas

12:00 p.m. – Mariachi Jalisciense

About the Reynolds Center

In 1863, Joseph Reynolds and J. Edgar Griggs expanded their mercantile business into Mesilla with the opening of a new dry goods and notions store on the Mesilla Plaza. Their partnership dissolved in 1877 and the Griggs Family maintained ownership of the property until about 1904 when Joseph’s son Charles Reynolds bought the property in an effort to recreate his father’s empire. He is responsible for the façades of all three parts of the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site, devoting a large sum of money into renovating the buildings into what we see today.

About the Exhibit “Mesilla: A Place of Growth and Change”

Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site’s first exhibit will showcase Mesilla and its unique place in New Mexico history, particularly its central place in many key moments during the second part of the 19th century. This history will be told using six themes of what “Mesilla is” through stories from community members, as well as the Taylor Family who, as members of the community for 70 years, have a distinct perspective.

Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site Family Day is made possible through the support of the Friends of Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Community partners participating in the event include: Calavera Coalition, Doña Ana County Historical Society, The J. Paul Taylor Academy, Las Cruces City Museums, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of New Mexico Foundation, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, New Mexico Historic Sites, New Mexico Museum of Space History, New Mexico State Parks, New Mexico State University Museum, Querencia Mi Mesilla, Rio Grande Historical Collections, Town of Mesilla, Visit Las Cruces, and Wonders on Wheels.