Long before Nevada’s famous Sin City sprouted in the desert, a New Mexico town by the same name was literally America’s gateway to the West. Set in the foothills of the Rockies just west of the Great Plains, Las Vegas, N.M., flourished as a key node on the Santa Fe Trail. For traders heading west from Old Franklin, Missouri, Las Vegas was the first city they would encounter after more than a thousand miles crossing the open plains. That was assuming they survived the weather, the outlaws, and various bands of Indigenous warriors who thought they had no business there.

Las Vegas’s heyday began with the Mexican-American War, when U.S. forces used the Santa Fe Trail to invade Mexican territory in 1846. The arrival of the railroad in 1879 cemented the importance of the town. By 1882, it was a bustling center that rivaled Denver, El Paso, and Tucson. By 1905, the glory days were over.

As a result, Las Vegas looks like the set for a movie placed during the legendary close of the Old West. More than 900 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Beaux-Arts Plaza Hotel on the main square and the glamorous Castaneda Hotel at the rail station. Many a Western has filmed in Las Vegas — most recently the ‶Longmire″ series on Netflix. The peeling mural of a grinning gamine cowgirl, ‶Calumet Says Howdy!,″ dates from the 1993 thriller Red Dawn. Las Vegas stood in for the fictional Calumet, Colorado.

Long live his name and long live his story…

The town feels like an open-air museum of late 19th and early 20th century architecture, culminating in the stunning Art Deco facade of the Kiva Theatre. Antiques shops abound, many of them selling vintage Southwestern jewelry and regional knickknacks. There’s a healthy sprinkling of galleries selling photography, contemporary crafts, paintings, and constructions. We moseyed into town on a Monday, when many cafes and restaurants were closed, but we found sustenance at one of the handsome brick buildings along Bridge Street.

Stella’s Cafe (148 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM; 505-930-7210; stellascafenm.com) serves breakfast, lunch, and snacks Thursday-Monday. There are a handful of tables at the back and six venerable stools at an old soda fountain. We’re told Stella’s also hosts an open mic event on Sunday afternoons for those with an urge to express their inner Tex Ritter. We can’t speak to the pipes of the Sunday singers, but we can attest that Stella’s serves a mean green chile chicken soup. Accompanied by some of Stella’s delicious homemade bread, it was a perfect bowl of comfort food with enough heat to put some serious jangle in your spurs.