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Surrounding CommunitiesEspañola Española Main street, 1924. In October 2000 the city of Española, New Mexico - a neighboring community near Los Alamos - celebrated its 75th anniversary as an incorporated city. This event was commemorated by the Los Alamos National Laborabory with an exhibition featuring the historical links between the people of Española and the Laboratory. San Ildefonso Pueblo Los Alamos borders on lands belonging to San Ildefonso Pueblo, a Native American community on the banks of the Rio Grande. On a cold December night in 1945, San Ildefonso Pueblo invited a group of Los Alamos square dancers to their pueblo for an evening of entertainment. The two communities had seen a lot of each other during the war as men and women from the pueblo commuted daily to work at Los Alamos. The square dancers took cookies, soft drinks, and sandwiches with them. San Ildefonsians supplied coffee, tamales, and dried fruit pies called pastelitos. Bernice Brode wrote: "Our Indian friends were a little hurt because our feet gave out. They always danced until sunrise."  Julian and Maria Martinez, San Ildefonso Pueblo. San Ildefonso is famous as the home of the late Maria Martinez who along with her husband, Julian, developed black-on-black pottery. The Martinez' were contemporaries with Los Alamos' Project Y employees. Maria's work can be seen at the Pueblo museum located near the church. Santa FeThe community of Santa Fe, 45 miles to the southwest of Los Alamos and New Mexico's state capitol, was the first stop for new arrivals to Project Y. Newcomers were instructed to report to 109 East Palace Ave., where they were issued temporary passes. Dorothy McKibbin was the office manager there and each day she dispatched 65 people, two vans of furniture, and one truck of frieght to "the Hill". When hired she was told never to ask questionsand never ask for a name to be repeated, and that was that. One could never say "physicist" or "Los Alamos" in the office.  109 E. Palace, Santa Fe, the first stop for new arrivals
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