Las Vegas Plaza, Historic district in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Las Vegas Plaza is a historic district centered on an open square ringed by nineteenth-century buildings, including the Plaza Hotel and the Charles Ilfeld Building. The space contains multiple registered structures that reflect different periods and building styles throughout its layout.

The plaza was founded in 1835 by Mexican settlers and later became a key stopping point on the Santa Fe Trail. Control of the region passed to the United States in 1846, shaping its growth as a trading and travel hub.

The plaza's name and layout come from the Spanish Colonial practice of a central square ringed by adobe buildings that doubled as fortifications. After 1880 the square was cleared of livestock and wagons and turned into a public park with trees, fences and a bandstand, the form visitors walk through today.

The plaza sits at the center of a walkable grid of streets, with the Plaza Hotel, Charles Ilfeld Building and Dice Apartments all fronting the square itself. The Exchange Hotel survives only as a single wing, so look for it rather than a full building. The surrounding blocks are compact enough to cover on foot in one outing.

The oldest surviving building on the plaza is Dice Apartments; tradition holds that Stephen W. Kearny addressed the town from its roof in 1846, claiming New Mexico for the United States. The Exchange Hotel of 1850 survives only as a single wing.