Carrizozo Heritage Museum

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays

March through December

                Carrizozo's local museum is just around the corner on 12th Street from the Visitors Center

Caboose on Central Avenue (Highway 54) as you come into town at the 4-way stop at Highway 380.  It opened in May, 2003, with lots of work by volunteers and staff and is still served by volunteers.  The building, formerly a frozen food locker, is now 'just' a pretty cool place that shows how things used to be in Carrizozo and Lincoln County. 

                Built in the 1940s as a locker and ice plant for the community, ice was made behind the building and could be purchased for home iceboxes.  In the days before home freezers, residents of the town and nearby ranches rented lockers here to house their frozen food, mostly game from hunting or locally butchered livestock.

                Abandoned in the 1950s, the property is now owned by the Town of Carrizozo and is leased to the Carrizozo Historical Society as a museum.  Filled with rich railroad and ranching history from the area, there is an authentic

·                     1930s ranch house kitchen,

·                     an early country schoolroom,

·                     Milady’s Millinery Shoppe, and

·                     a Western section with saddles and tack. 

Visitors will even see an old Carrizozo fire engine, an old covered wagon, and a ranch branding exhibit.  A gift shop specializes in books on local regional history, Southwest cookbooks and children.

                The building next door to the Museum, also owned by the Town, was built as an electric plant in 1938.  It soon replaced electricity brought to Carrizozo from a power plant in White Oaks since 1916.  The building hopefully will be used as a community hall for gatherings and events once conversion is finished.

                For more information or to schedule special viewing or tours, please call 575-648-2102.