Civic Buildings

This building was originally the Raton Post Office and was built during the WPA era. Paintings by various well known New Mexico artists can be viewed in the library. 244 Cook Ave. Raton, NM 87740 | (575) 445-9711 openmon: 1-6pm | tue: 10am-6pm | wed: 10am-6pm | thu: 10am-9pm | fri: 10am-6pm Read More…

According to the City of Carlsbad the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center was founded in 1931 and fulfills its mission as a cultural and educational institution through the collection, preservation, exhibition and interpretation of artifacts, documents and works of art relating to prehistory, history and aesthetic environment of the City Read More…

Constructed 1904 Las Vegas Carnegie Library was one of three Carnegie Libraries built in New Mexico, along with Raton and Roswell. A grant of $10,000 from the Andrew Carnegie fund helped build the library, and Las Vegas is the only active Carnegie Library remaining in the state. The building was Read More…

Constructed 1911. The Chaves County Courthouse was built in 1911, and designed by Isaac H. Rapp of the distinguished Rapp and Rapp architectural firm of Trinidad, Colorado. The Courthouse is one of the most imposing civic buildings in New Mexico, an outstanding example of the monumental civic Beaux-Arts style. Chaves Read More…

Constructed 1940 The City of Las Vegas Museum and Rough Rider Memorial is housed in the historic Municipal Building. Las Vegas Municipal Building was designed by the Santa Fe architectural firm of Kruger & Clark and constructed during 1939-40 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Among the museum’s exhibits Read More…

Constructed 1939. The entire four-block junior and senior high school complex was designed and funded by the WPA and built in the Pueblo-Revival style in 1939. It included a cafeteria, two-story high school, agricultural and manual arts building, a gymnasium/auditorium that also housed a home economics classroom, tennis courts, a Read More…

Constructed 1939. The former Clayton Library, now known as the D.D. Monroe Civic Building, was built by the WPA in 1939 in the Pueblo-Revival style. The building was designed by Willard C. Kruger. It served as the public library until the 1980s when the library moved to a new building Read More…

Constructed 1936. The 1936 Art Deco style Colfax County Courthouse is a five-story blond brick building embellished with glazed tile cornices and bas relief metal panels. The larger bas reliefs depict farming, mining, and cattle raising, the main industries of Colfax County. The motifs on the embellishments include cattle brands Read More…

Constructed 1936. The Curry County Courthouse in Clovis was built in 1936 using WPA funds. 700 N. Main St. Clovis, NM 88101 | (575) 763-6016

Constructed 1937. This 1937, three-story, Spanish-Pueblo Revival style building was partially funded by the Public Works Administration. The courthouse, which is listed on both the state and national historic register, is currently vacant, but there is potential for it to be rehabilitated and repurposed in the future. — Source “Public Read More…

Constructed 1909 Built in 1882, burned and rebuilt in 1909, the E. Romero Hose & Fire Building is the home of the first volunteer fire department in New Mexico. The original wood frame fire house was replaced by the brick building in 1909. The 1913 Sanborn map notes for the Read More…

Constructed 1937. The Farmington library was moved to a new building constructed in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration project located on the small city park at the corner of East La Plata and Orchard. The collection consisted of 2,000 books. This building was remodeled in 1961 and again in Read More…

Constructed 1939. The original courthouse built in 1891, was a Victorian structure built for $21,000 with a steeple and dark colored locally-made brick; later additions were built similarly. When New Deal funds ($185,000) became available in 1939, the architecture of the building was drastically changed to the early Spanish style Read More…

Constructed 1930. Built in 1930, the Art Deco style courthouse was the first county courthouse to use New Deal funds for decorative murals. Theodore Van Soelen, N.A. painted two murals titled “Chino Mines” and “The Round Up” under the Public Works of Art Project in 1933 and 1934. Van Soelen Read More…

Constructed 1937. While it appears that the funds used to construct the Lea County Courthouse are NOT the result of New Deal programs, the style is similar to that of other New Deal-era courthouses. The county was experiencing an oil boom at the time and it is possible that it Read More…

This building bears WPA markers on its exterior. 301 S. Foch St. Truth or Consequences, NM 87901 | 575-894-6641

Constructed 1910. The Luna County Courthouse, designed by W. B. Corwin, with tall clock tower and Greek style portico was completed in 1910. The courthouse is an interesting variant of the Neo-Classical style with elongated proportions. The Courthouse was the site of the controversial trials of 30 Villistas of the Read More…

Constructed 1939. Built in 1939, the McKinley County Courthouse was partially funded by the Public Works Administration and is listed on the state and national historic registers. Designed by the regionally renowned firm Trost & Trost, the four-story Spanish-Pueblo Revival style building is embellished in its interior with wood beams, Read More…

Constructed 1936. Recognized on both the state and national historic register, Monte Vista Fire Station, designed by city architect E.H. Blumenthal, was built with WPA funds and completed in 1936. The hollow block and stucco building was constructed with local materials and labor. It is built in the Pueblo Revival Read More…

Constructed 1908. Built in 1908, it was originally the City Hall and fire station. It was remodeled in 1938 by the WPA in Spanish-Pueblo Revival Style. Meeting rooms, a stage, and an auditorium with high ceilings are still used for meetings,stage productions, and music venue as the Deming Performing Arts Read More…

Constructed 1937 Designed by John Gaw Meem and constructed by the WPA, Rogers Hall was completed in 1937 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The walls of the main staircase and the second floor foyer are covered with a mural, “The Dissemination of Education in New Mexico,” completed in 1937 Read More…

Constructed 1937. The original Belen City Hall was completed by the WPA in 1937. The building still belongs to the city, but is no longer in use. With assistance from New Mexico MainStreet, Belen MainStreet recently completed a Facade Squad on the building, painting and repairing the exterior of the Read More…

Constructed 1939. The Old City Hall was built with WPA funds in 1939. It is currently being used as an office building and is managed by Artesia MainStreet. As WPA (Works Progress Administration, a depression-era program) building project, it brought several City departments together under the same roof, including the Read More…

Constructed 1933. Built in 1933 and listed on the state and national historic registers, the blond brick building was constructed as part of the WPA project and still has the original carved beamed ceilings. It exhibits a mix of architectural styles, including Mediterranean, Decorative Brick Commercial, and Spanish Pueblo Revival. Read More…

Constructed 1882 Currently vacant, the former East Las Vegas City Hall has the distinction of being the first municipal building erected in the New Mexico Territory in 1882. The large heavy stone arches on the ground floor are representative of the Romanesque Revival style. The contrasting reddish brown and light Read More…

Constructed 1931. Listed on the state and national historic registers, this building was constructed in 1931 as the post office. The two-story sandstone and brick building with a tiled roof combined Spanish-Colonial Revival and Neoclassical styles to created a dignified federal building that was still consistent with its southwest locale. Read More…

Constructed 1934. The old Silver City post office was “built in 1934 by the Treasury Department. It is a one-story hollow tile construction with a basement. It has modified Mission-style arches, relief ornamentation and entablature with finials over front entrance, double-leaf front doors, transom covered by row of turned spindles, Read More…

Constructed 1932. The 1932 Spanish-Pueblo Revival style courthouse was built with partial funding from the PWAP and is located on the north side of the Taos plaza. The second floor courtroom was decorated with ten frescoes of subjects related to the use and misuse of the law. The frescos were Read More…

Constructed 1937. Funded by the Public Works Administration, Portales’ Main Post Office was completed in 1937 and is built with red brick in the Classical Revival style. The post office is part of a complex of administrative buildings downtown including the WPA constructed courthouse across the street. The post office Read More…

Constructed 1930 This one-story Art Deco-style building, constructed between 1930 and 1948, includes a white, horizontal tiled exterior. A stepped geometric parapet crowns the facade, and a large glass block opening with fluting above curves around the corner at the intersection of Second Street and Clark Avenue. The exterior veneer Read More…

Joseph A. Fleck was commissioned to paint two murals in the Raton Post Office, “Butterfield Mail” and “Unloading Mail at Raton”, the first depicting Taos Indians and Raton miners in 1849 reading mail delivered by a scout on a white horse. The other mural focuses on the local mail system Read More…

Constructed 1938. The 1938 Art Deco Style Courthouse is a four-story structure of cast stone and blond brick with cast concrete and metal bas relief embellishments. It was designed by R.E. Merrell and partially funded through the Public Works Administration. The decorative motifs include thunderbirds and a bas relief medallion Read More…

Constructed 1939. WPA workers constructed this solid, no-nonsense building with Art Deco cement panels on the facade. As one of the many plaques inside the structure emphatically states, it was Built and paid for in 1938-39. From 1939 to 1962 the Roswell Police Department operated from here, along with other Read More…

Constructed 1940 This structure was built with WPA funding in 1940. — Source “Public Art and Architecture in New Mexico 1933-1943” by Kathryn A. Flynn 500 W. National St. Las Vegas, NM 87701 575-425-9331 photo by Elmo Baca

Constructed 1868. Little is recorded of Corrales during the first 150 years of Spanish occupation since it was not on the major trade routes along the river from Santa Fe; even as late as 1870 the census records only 141 households with 687 residents, nearly all were farmers, ranchers or Read More…

Constructed 1915. The Shuler Theater is a historic theater located in downtown Raton. Home to the local performing arts scene, you can see live plays, dramas, comedies, concerts and musical theater suitable for all ages. The foyer of the theater features eight mural panels created by Manville Chapman in 1934 Read More…

Constructed 1938. This courthouse, built in 1938, was the only PWA courthouse project to embrace territorial revival style. It was designed by Wilfred Stedman in 1937 when the voters chose to move the county seat from Hillsboro to Hot Springs (later known as Truth of Consequences). — Source: “Public Art Read More…

homas Branigan Memorial Library is located at 200 E. Picacho Ave. on the corner of North Main St. and Picacho Ave. “Navajo Blankets Portfolio” by Louie Ewing and a small watercolor by Ramos Sanchez, “San Ildefonso Pueblo,” are available for viewing. On request one can study the “Portfolio of Spanish Read More…

Constructed 1940. Completed in 1940, the post office in downtown Truth or Consequences (known at the time as Hot Springs) was built according to the standardized plan also used for the Deming and Portales post offices, but with less ornamentation. The post office is listed on the National Register of Read More…

Constructed 1909 The Union County Courthouse was built just three years before statehood and is an excellent example of Neo-Classical architecture in New Mexico. The building incorporates some of the classical details made popular by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. 100 Court St. Clayton, NM 88415 | 505-374-9491 Image by Read More…

The 6’x4′ oil painting “Conchas Dam”, by Odon Hullenkremer, hangs on the 8th floor and depicts scenes that occurred during the construction of the Conchas Dam. Located on the eastern side of the state, the dam was completed in 1939 at a cost of $15.8 million. — Source “Treasures on Read More…

Constructed 1930. Completed in 1930 and listed on both the state and national historic register, the Federal Building is a striking combination of Mediterranean style and decorative Indian design motifs. While not a WPA building, it does contain two notable pieces of WPA art. “The Rebellion of 1680” by Loren Read More…