Workforce Development Division

Lordsburg, New Mexico

For many generations the Apache tribe made their home in what is now the Lordsburg area. Because of natural springs, this area was a watering hole between Tucson, AZ and El Paso, TX for Mexicans and Indians. Among the first white men in this area were the soldiers of the Mormon Battalion in 1846. For easier watering they sunk their barrels in the springs on their way to California during the Mexican War which ended in 1848. In 1853 this area became U. S. Territory through the Gadsden Purchase that established the border line between the United States and Mexico. This created a southern route to the west-coast which was established by the Butterfield Stagecoach Co. and traveled by the Pony Express in the late 1850's.

The Southern Pacific Railroad established the town of Lordsburg in 1880. At first it was a wild frontier tent town. Life was typical of the Old Southwest. But as nearby mining, ranching, and farming developed it became a real town with brick and adobe homes with schools and churches. In the early 1920's the first airport in New Mexico was built at Lordsburg where Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, Tom Mix and other celebraties stopped.

Lordsburg is a small southwestern town settled by anglos and native American-Mexicans with blending of cultures and languages into a peaceful collage. The air is clean, the water pure, and the sun shines everyday with the summer temperatures near 100 and the winter temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees during the day. The winter nights are slightly below freezing and the summer nights are cool and comfortable for sleeping.

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