The historic Lordsburg Hidalgo Library is more than 100 years old and is a building from the depression-era Works Projects Administration (WPA) project. Photo courtesy of Lorsburg Visitor Information Center.

Hidalgo County

New Mexico

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One of the fabulous displays of the "old West" at Steins Ghost Town. Photo courtesy of Lorsburg Visitor Information Center.

 

Hidalgo County was formed in 1919, and named for the patriot priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, and is rich in Southwestern history about the Calvary, Native Americans, trains, ranching, farming and mining. With 3,445 square miles of both arid and mountainous land, Hidalgo county attracts many outdoorsmen and women for hunting, hiking, bird watching, nature viewing, photography, trail riding and spectacular night skies. RVers are treated to comfortable, as well as high tech, RV sites within the county. Along the Arizona side of the county are the breathtaking Chiricahua Mountains, with more than 325,000 acres of both national forest and wilderness.

Hidalgo is becoming a mecca for artists and birders in the small community of Rodeo, with more than six art galleries, and lots of resources for watching birds. The Lordsburg Hidalgo County Library is an historic depression-era Works Projects Administration building with pioneer family memorial windows, a special Southwest history collection and unique WPA artwork. Nearby are two famous ghost towns from the 1800s, Shakespeare Ghost Town and Steins Ghost Town, both associated with the Southern Pacific Railroad of early days, Geronimo and Apache history, and the Butterfield Overland Stage. Playas, which was once a company owned town of the Phelps-Dodge Corp. is now the training ground for the U.S. Homeland Security division. A search on the Internet will supply you with much more information about this history laden county.

REDTT has a strong County Tourism Council (CTC) that meets on the last Wednesday of each month in various locations around the county. For additional information, to become a member and get involved in tourism in Hidalgo County, contact the REDTT director at redtt@nmsu.edu or call (505) 646-8009. REDTT is open to all persons interested in tourism issues. The REDTT CTC bylaws of Hidalgo County are available by contacting the REDTT project.

Towns in Hidalgo County include: Lordsburg, the county seat; Shakespeare, a ghost town; Steins, another ghost town; Playas, training center for Homeland Security; Rodeo, a small town with lots of artists; Animas; Old Hatchita; Cotton City and Virden. Learn more about Hidalgo County by clicking on some of the following links:

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