New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum
The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum connects the present generation to the history of farming and ranching in New Mexico, inspiring a deeper appreciation and understanding of the State's rich heritage. The Museum accomplishes this by providing exhibitions and programs that enable its users to understand and learn from the past in ways that enrich their present lives and help them shape a better future.
Description:
The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum is 47 acres packed with real stories about real people.
The interactive museum, which has welcomed visitors from all over the world, brings to life the 3,000-year history of farming and ranching in New Mexico.
The enormous main building contains more than 24,000 square feet of exhibit space, along with a restaurant, gift shop and theater.
Fun and learning go hand in hand as visitors can watch a cow being milked, stroll along corrals filled with livestock, enjoy several gardens or drop by the blacksmith shop or another venue to watch one of our growing number of demonstrations.
We retrieve memories for some visitors, educate others and provide a fun-filled day for everyone.
History:
The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum was the vision of former New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas and William P. Stephens, the secretary-director of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture for many years.
Thomas and Stephens began talking to others in the political arena and in farming and ranching circles in 1972 about creating a way to preserve New Mexico's rich farming and ranching heritage.
The discussion that began in the 1970s became action in the 1980s. In 1984, a group of ranchers and farmers visiting the home of New Mexico State University President James Halligan requested help to put together a farm and ranch heritage program. Stephens, at the request of Halligan and the NMSU Board of Regents, agreed to direct the Farm and Ranch Heritage Program and work with the agricultural community.
In 1991, the movement picked up steam. The previous year, the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs received a $50,000 appropriation to provide for a study and plan for a comprehensive Farm and Ranch Heritage complex.
During the 1991 Legislative session, Sen. Ben Altamirano of Silver City introduced Senate Bill 250. "An act relating to agriculture; enacting the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum act; creating a board, providing for powers and duties." With that piece of legislation, the Farm and Ranch Heritage program became a part of the state Office of Cultural Affairs.
In May 1991, Gov. Bruce King attended a New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Institute Foundation meeting and pledged his support for a three-year, $8 million project. In November of that year, King appointed the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum Board, created by Altamirano's Senate Bill 250.
After the Legislature passed a $7 million appropriation for Phase One of the museum in March 1994, Museum Director Dr. J. Edson Way set out to acquire a larger plot of land. In July of that year he approached the museum board about the problem and on Dec. 20, 1994, the NMSU Board of Regents approved the lease of 47 acres on Dripping Springs Road for the museum site.
The museum board approved the final design of the building at its meeting on Aug. 11, 1995 and a ground-breaking ceremony took place the next day. The event was not a typical ground-breaking get-together. After the Heritage Riders rode down the hill on horseback and delivered shovels and a post-hole digger to the dignitaries, museum volunteer Alvin Davidson plowed across the property with a 1937 John Deere tractor.
Construction on the building began late December 1995 and about the same time, the museum received its first animals when 19 longhorn cattle were sent south from Chicosa Lake State Park in northern New Mexico.
The growing museum staff moved into the new building at 4100 Dripping Springs Road in January 1997 and an open house was held on April 19, 1997. Although tours of the huge facility had been going on for months, the museum opened to the public on May 17, 1998.
On Aug. 3, 2004, during a ceremony led by Gov. Bill Richardson, the museum was named in honor of former Gov. Bruce King.
Contact person: Debbie Holderby, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (575) 522-3085
Languages Spoken: English
Address:
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4100 Dripping Springs RoadLas Cruces, NM 88011 (See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org
Directions:
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Take Exit 1 (University Exit) in Las Cruces and go east (toward the Organ Mountains) 1.5 miles. |
| Last updated on May 21, 2009 |
