Best Web Design in Roswell, NM (2026)

Web Design for Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell, the seat of Chaves County, is world-famous for the 1947 incident in which debris recovered on a ranch was rumored to be a crashed flying saucer, making it a global magnet for UFO tourism. Beyond the aliens, it is a serious agricultural center whose Leprino Foods plant is one of the largest mozzarella factories on Earth. The city also has a proud aerospace pedigree as the place where rocketry pioneer Robert H. Goddard did much of his groundbreaking work.

AppWT works with Roswell, NM businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Roswell

Also known as. UFO Capital of the World (for the 1947 Roswell incident). Alien Capital. Dairy hub of the Southwest (home to one of the world's largest mozzarella plants).

History. Founded as a trading post; Van C. Smith and Aaron Wilburn built the first adobe structures in 1869, and Smith filed the land claim in 1871, naming it after his father, Roswell Smith. Captain Joseph C. Lea bought the settlement in 1877 and became its major landowner. Merchant Nathan Jaffa's 1890 backyard well tapped a major aquifer, triggering the town's first real growth spurt; the railroad arrived in the early 1890s. Rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard conducted much of his liquid-fuel rocket research near Roswell in the 1930s. The 1947 Roswell incident: debris was recovered on a ranch roughly 75 miles north near Corona, and after decades of speculation the U.S. later attributed it to Project Mogul, a classified high-altitude balloon program. Walker Air Force Base operated from the 1940s until its 1967 closure, after which the city reinvented itself partly as a retirement community.

Local economy. Dairy and agriculture are central: Leprino Foods runs one of the world's largest mozzarella factories in Roswell, employing hundreds and processing millions of pounds of milk daily. Ranching, dairying and acequia-irrigated farming have anchored the region since the 19th century. UFO tourism is a major economic driver, centered on museums, alien-themed businesses and the annual festival. Oil and gas activity supports the surrounding Chaves County economy. Bus manufacturing operated in Roswell for decades (Transportation Manufacturing Corp./Nova Bus, roughly 1974-2002).

Culture and community. The Roswell UFO Festival, held around the July 4 weekend since 1995, brings a costume parade, guest speakers, drone shows and live music celebrating the 1947 anniversary. The International UFO Museum and Research Center is the city's signature attraction. The Roswell Museum and Art Center recreates Robert Goddard's rocket workshop and has a planetarium; the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art showcases its artist-in-residence program. Baseball is woven into local lore: Joe Bauman hit a professional-record 72 home runs for the Roswell Rockets in 1954, and today's Roswell Invaders (Pecos League) play in lime-green uniforms at Joe Bauman Ballpark. Notable figures with Roswell ties include LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, actresses Demi Moore and Priscilla Presley, and New Mexico Military Institute alumni.

What makes Roswell distinct. Roswell's downtown streetlights are shaped and painted like alien heads. The famous 1947 crash site was actually about 75 miles north near Corona, so the city is renowned for an event that did not happen within its limits. German POWs during World War II arranged river rocks into an iron cross along the North Spring River (now POW/MIA Park), later covered in concrete and rediscovered in the 1980s. Daredevil Felix Baumgartner launched his record stratospheric skydive from Roswell on October 14, 2012. The city holds the striking dual identity of alien tourism capital and one of the world's biggest mozzarella producers.

Roswell Landmarks and Local Life

• International UFO Museum and Research Center in downtown Roswell.
• The UFO-shaped McDonald's on North Main Street - complete with a spacecraft play area and alien statues
• New Mexico Military Institute - a college-preparatory military school founded in 1891
• Bottomless Lakes State Park - New Mexico's first state park, about 12 miles east
• Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge - just northeast of the city
• Roswell Museum and Art Center with its Goddard rocketry exhibit and planetarium.