Another easy day. We did some chores around the Villa, then at 10:15 we walked the 1/3 mile to the Las Cruces Railroad Museum.
It was a simple, low key, and fun place. Lots of history, from when the first train came to town in 1881 until the last train stopped here in 1988. Also we learned the interesting story about how Las Cruces won the Railroaid stop over the much bigger (then) town of Mesilla… It seems the railroad wrote to both towns asking about the possibility of locating the train station in their town. Las Cruces boosters got on board, secretly bought up all the land they could, then offered the railroad the land for everything they needed. Mesilla never responded, and seemed surprised when the railroad went to Las Cruces. Today Mesilla is a tiny suburb, absorbed into the city limits of Las Cruces, which became a major crossroads in Southern New Mexico. So, now: Have you ever heard of Mesilla?
Adjacent to the railroad station/museum is a caboose:
The caboose was put in service in the 1890s, and retired in 1960. In 1969 a local Las Cruces family purchased it for $50 as one of 300 cabooses offered for sale. They cleaned it up, added a kitchen and a shower, and lived in it while they were building their ranch house just outside of town. It stayed in the family until 2010 when it was donated to the Railroad Museum… And here it sits…
We walked back to the Villa, then we drove to Mesilla. Remember Mesilla? They have a very nice original town plaza surrounded by shoppes and restaurants. The town church is relatively new, replacing the original church built in 1852.
One of the shoppes is in the old courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging…
Of course, while en route to his hanging Billy the Kid escaped, killing his two guards. After running for two months, he was finally shot to death in Fort Sumner, NM, by Pat Garrett. (Fun fact: In my early days as an architect, I worked in an office with another architect who claimed he was a descendant of Pat Garrett…)
The plaza and surrounding shoppes are nice…
The above building claims to be the oldest brick building in New Mexico, built in 1860 from bricks manufactured on site… The building didn’t have an auspicious start – one by one the first three owners were murdered right here…
We decided on Josephine’s Cafe for lunch… lighter fare than generally available around here… And EXCELLENT Sangria!
After lunch we fueled up the truck and returned to the Villa. More chores were done and a leisurely evening ensured…
And an enjoyable time was had by all…
Adventures in the Villa 