Spanish colonists settled at scattered locations in this valley beginning about 1615, and the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant given to 63 families in 1796 led to the establishment of this plaza and the surrounding community. It became the most important settlement in the area outside of the ancient San Gerónimo de Taos Pueblo three miles to the north. In the late 1700s, families on the land grant built their homes and businesses around the plaza so that the windowless rear walls formed a secure defensive structure with strong gates at both ends, while a central well provided water and livestock could be brought inside during times of war. In peaceful times, the plaza served, as it still does, as a gathering place for church processions, political speeches, horse trading, music, militia assembly, farmers market, and small talk. Before wagons probably reached Taos in the mid 1800s, trains of pack animals frequently crossed the plaza carrying trade goods such as furs for inspection at the customs house or local products for exchange with distant places throughout the West. As commerce grew, Taos's early hotels, including the Don Fernando and the Columbian, stood here, and from about 1830 a courthouse and jail occupied the north side. Saloons and gambling establishments also operated here over the years. During the bloody rebellion against U.S. occupation in 1847, fighting took place in and around the plaza, followed by several executions after hasty trials. Fires repeatedly destroyed important buildings and altered the plaza's appearance, and in 1932 a new Taos County Courthouse was built after a fire destroyed an earlier court building and jail along with other establishments on the north side. Today the Old Courthouse across the road displays WPA murals by some of the early artists who helped make Taos a famous art colony, while the town's long history remains evident in the plaza's enduring presence and spirit.