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Carrizozo, New Mexico

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1938 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Carrizozo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88301. It lies near Lemon Draw. The Survey maps it on the Carrizozo West quadrangle. 972 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,436 feet above sea level.

Carrizozo within Lincoln County

On record in Carrizozo

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Carrizozo fell from 996 to 972 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010996
2020972-24 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

8 of 22 photographs shown, 2020

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly thriving railroad hub where cattle raised in the vast ranches nearby were shipped off to market
The small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), was a modestly thriving railroad hub where cattle raised in the vast ranches nearby were shipped off to market
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Vintage car at an installation that some call "outsider art" in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021)
Vintage car at an installation that some call "outsider art" in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021)
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
According to local lore in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), a neighbor saw, down the road, an installation that some call "outsider art," made from reclaimed pieces of abandoned buildings, accented by various vintages of old cars
According to local lore in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), a neighbor saw, down the road, an installation that some call "outsider art," made from reclaimed pieces of abandoned buildings, accented by various vintages of old cars
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
This is what's left in early 2021 inside the Lyric Theatre, in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so
This is what's left in early 2021 inside the Lyric Theatre, in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art," in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021)
A sampling of an installation that some call "outsider art," in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021)
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Master woodworker, Mike Lagg and prolific artist, Paula Wilson take a break among the pieces of their art installation in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo
Master woodworker, Mike Lagg and prolific artist, Paula Wilson take a break among the pieces of their art installation in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
The First Baptist Church in the south-central New Mexico city of Carrizozo
The First Baptist Church in the south-central New Mexico city of Carrizozo
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
This Pueblo Revival-style structure in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), is, as it was when it was completed, the woman's club building
This Pueblo Revival-style structure in the small, south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo, with a population of 1,000 or so (as of 2021), is, as it was when it was completed, the woman's club building
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Lincoln County

Fires near this place

51 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Carrizozo between 1992 and 2014, burning about 704 acres in total. 19 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Natural19
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Smoking1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
28 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionROPER
20 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry Division117
5 August 2007Natural5.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
5 August 2002Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionLY
4 August 2011Debris and open burning3.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMORALES
4 August 2000Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionTRACKS
3 August 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionOAK
27 August 2009Natural2.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSADDLE RIDGE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lincoln County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Carrizozo: 2 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 unknown, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Carri2020 PlantIronProducer
Harkey ProspectUraniumOccurrence
Lm&M MillIronProducer
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Pit Bp2Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerGravel
Valley of Fire Road CutUraniumOccurrence1955

Every working recorded in Lincoln County

Storms near this place

7 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Carrizozo in 7 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2018HailCarrizozo$25,000Heavy amounts of hail between the size of nickels and quarters impacted Carrizozo. Several recreational vehicles suffered damage to sky lights. Damage amounts are estimated.
July 2025Flash FloodCarrizozo-Emergency Management reported 6 inches of moving water over U.S. Highway 54 south of Carrizozo.
July 2021Flash FloodCarrizozo-The Carrizozo airport measured 3.95 inches of rain in a short period of time which resulted in flash flooding in the area. Extent of damages is unknown.
July 2021HailCarrizozo-An observer reported one inch hail from a severe thunderstorm near Carrizozo.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindCarrizozo-Severe thunderstorm winds up to 63 mph were measured around Carrizozo.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindCarrizozo-The White Sands mesonet site at Phillips Hills recorded a 77 mph wind gust from a storm that rapidly intensified over the site after interacting with a gust front.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindCarrizozo-Thunderstorm winds which damaged several roofs and signs in Carrizozo were followed with golf ball-size hail that dimpled vehicles and tattered trees and gardens in Capitan.

Every storm recorded in Lincoln County

Newspapers printed here

5,724 digitised pages

2 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 593 issues, 5,724 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
Carrizozo Outlook1910 to 1945
Carrizozo News1908 to 192?

What the paper printed

12,022 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 8 issues spread across its run from 1908 to 1915, 12,022 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

IssuePaper Length
1908-06-12Carrizozo News510 words
1908-07-31Carrizozo News417 words
1908-09-11Carrizozo News1,274 words
1908-10-23Carrizozo News434 words
1908-12-04Carrizozo News1,238 words
1915-03-19Carrizozo Outlook2,912 words
1915-05-28Carrizozo Outlook2,532 words
1915-11-05Carrizozo Outlook2,705 words

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Polly6.3 miles14
Robsart6.9 miles14
Manchester (historical)8.1 miles14
Vera Cruz (historical)9.6 miles15
White Oaks10.4 miles15
Nogal10.7 miles15
Coyote12.1 miles12
Lovelace12.3 miles12

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on CarrizozoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1045140The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 918425. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.