Between 1900 and 1912 the Bataan Memorial Building in front of you served as New Mexico's Territorial Capitol, and from 1912 to 1966 as the State Capitol. After being replaced by the present New Mexico State Capitol, this building continued to house various state government offices. Walk the exterior and you can read its layered story: additions were completed in 1910, 1923, and 1952.
During the 1952 project the dome and portico of the old capitol were removed and the complex was remodeled in the Territorial Revival style, largely obscuring the original architecture, though arched windows on the third floor still peek through. In 1968 the former capitol was renamed to honor over 800 New Mexicans who died during the Battle of Bataan and the subsequent Bataan Death March in World War II. A memorial was dedicated here in 1966: an eternal flame and a concrete insignia that originally marked the headquarters of the 200th Coast Artillery at Fort Bliss.
The state recognized the building again recently, listing it on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 2024 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2025. Notice the eternal flame marking the southeast corner, a memorial to over 800 New Mexicans lost at Bataan.