Organ, NM

While driving to and from Las Cruces you go through a small town of Organ. It does not look like much and it got my curiousity as to what the town was like at one time. The town of Organ is an unincorparated community of Dona Ana County. Organ was a mining town prior to the American Civil War but in 1883 President Arthur granted a 40 acre parcel of land to the Organ Mining Corp. and mining built the town of Organ. The mine produced gold, iron, lead, silver and other minerals. Organ had a school, constable's office, community center, town square, post office, hotel, cemetary and a business district. In the 1930s the mines became unuseable due to floods and were shut down. That was the first demise of Organ. Then in 1945, Organ found a new life when the White Sands Missle Range was built. Organ became an area for housing for the support staff at the range. Through the last few decades Organ lost a lot population and the town declined quite a bit. Currently it has a couple of businesses and its Post Office is still open. It also has an active community and a tourist site. The water tower of Organ has space murals painted on it which created the Space Mural Museum. Organ has beautiful views of the Organ Mountains and hiking trails. Next time I go to Las Cruces I am going to stop and visit the museum and try to find the community center.