Las Trampas, New Mexico

Las Trampas was first established in 1751 by 12 families from Santa Fe. They were led by Juan de Arguello, the recipient of a land grant from Governor Tomas Velez Cachupin. Today, the chapel they built, The Church of San Jose de Gracia, is one of the finest surviving examples of the adobe architecture built in Nuevo Mexico in that era. After the Mexican Revolution in 1820, virtually all the priests left the New World and the church was used by Los Hermanos Penitentes for several decades.

In 1967, Las Trampas was declared a National Historic District. In 1970, San Jose de Gracia Church was designated a National Historic Landmark.