White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, United States

• Life as a National Monument
Tom Charles became the first custodian of the monument, and upon his retirement in 1939 became the first concessionaire, operating as White Sands Service Company.
The Headquarters building (also called the Visitor Center Complex) was constructed of adobe bricks as a Works Progress Administration project starting in 1936 and completed in 1938.
The Monument is completely surrounded by military installations (White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base) and has always had an uneasy relationship with the military. Errant missiles often fell on WSNM property, in some cases destroying some of the visitor areas. Overflights from Holloman disturbed the tranquility of the area.