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Photograph of Rabbit Ears
Photograph by Jstuby at en.wikipedia, CC0 1.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Rabbit Ears

A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

From the record

“Rabbit Ear Mountain is a mountain with two peaks in northeastern New Mexico, United States, 8 miles north of the city of Clayton. The mountain was a distinctive landmark along the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail, a major route for westbound settlers in the 19th century.”

Wikipedia article Rabbit Ear Mountain, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 11 National Register listings published here for Union County · listed in 1966 · category: District · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • Address. NW of Clayton, Clayton, 88415
  • When was it listed? October 1966
  • Category. district
  • Census division. Clayton North
  • National Register reference number. 66000499 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

3 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Rabbit Ears between 2006 and 2008, burning about 780 acres in total. 2 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
Natural2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
23 June 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry Divisionnot named
5 May 2008Natural277 acresCibola National ForestTRAIL
20 May 2006Natural500 acresCibola National ForestRABBIT

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Rabbit Ears: 2 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Kear PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this property

60 of 90 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clayton, the town this property stands in, in 90 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 67 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 3 funnel cloud. 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
August 2023Thunderstorm WindClayton$30,000The Southwestern Electric Cooperative reported severe winds having knocked down six power poles along State Highway 56 between mile markers 13 and 14 southwest of Clayton. Power was lost for a few hours. Damage is an estimate.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindClayton$20,000Law enforcement official reported a roof blown off a home on the southwest side of Clayton. Numerous fences were also blown down in this area.
May 1996Flash FloodClayton$20,000no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindClayton$10,000Large live tree snapped and damaged utility power lines at 2nd and Main Street in Clayton, NM.
August 2007HailClayton$10,000The general public and law enforcement officials reported car windshields broken by golf ball-sized hail along Highway 56. A garden and greenhouse were damaged at a nursery and several homes suffered broken windows and skylights. The hail dented kitchen appliances inside one home as it fell through the skylight.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindClayton$5,000Severe wind gusts from a storm heading directly toward Texline, TX blew through Clayton, NM, knocking out power for to an estimated 15 hours. Three power poles were reported down by the Southwestern Electric Cooperative.
May 2024HailClayton$5,000Storm spotters reported quarter to golf ball size hail along U.S. Highway 56 near the Otto Cemetery southwest of Clayton.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindClayton$5,000Powerlines down along U.S. Highway 56 near Otto Cemetery southwest of Clayton from damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2010Flash FloodClayton$4,000State Route 370 was impassable due to water covering much of the road between Clayton and Clayton Lake State Park, as several creeks overflowed their banks. Several motorists were stranded.
August 2007HailClayton$4,000Large hail damaged several vehicles at Clayton Lake State Park and cracked a window at the visitor center.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindClayton$3,000Fire chief reported a 68 mph wind gust at the fire station. This wind blew down 2 trees in a nearby alley as well as the personal weather station on site.
September 2025HailClayton-Ping pong to golf ball size hail was observed from a severe thunderstorm along U.S. Highway 64 and 87 on the northwest outskirts of Clayton.
September 2025HailClayton-A trained spotter between downtown Clayton and Clayton Municipal Airport observed half dollar size hail from a severe thunderstorm moving through the town.
May 2024HailClayton-A severe thunderstorm produced penny to quarter sized hail in Clayton.
May 2024HailClayton-Local law enforcement reported penny to quarter size hail a few miles north of downtown Clayton.
May 2024HailClayton-A trained spotter in Clayton reported penny to quarter size hail at her residence.
May 2024HailClayton-A trained spotter at the local radio station on the south side of town reported ping pong ball size hail.
June 2023HailClayton-Spotter Network report of half dollar size hail on the northern outskirts of Clayton from second supercell.
June 2023HailClayton-Trained spotter and local fire and rescue reported penny to nickel size hail in downtown Clayton from second supercell.
July 2023HailClayton-Quarter sized hail fell in Clayton as a supercell moved southeast into the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
August 2023HailClayton-Hail between penny to half dollar size diameter fell in the area.
June 2023HailClayton-A supercell moving east dropped quarter sized hail in Clayton.
May 2022HailClayton-A member of the public near Clayton estimated quarter size hail from a severe thunderstorm.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindClayton-A trained spotter near Clayton estimated wind gusts of 60 mph with a severe thunderstorm. These winds dropped visibility briefly down to one quarter mile with blowing dust.
May 2019HailClayton-Nickel size hail reported one mile west of Clayton.
May 2019HailClayton-Giant hail was reported by several storm chasers as a tornadic supercell tracked northeast through the area along U.S. 56 southwest of Clayton.
June 2019HailClayton-Penny size hail in Clayton.
June 2019HailClayton-Hail up to the size of quarters in Clayton.
June 2019HailClayton-Nickel to quarter size hail reported in Clayton.
June 2019HailClayton-Nickel to quarter size hail reported in Clayton.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindClayton-The Clayton airport reported a peak wind gust up to 64 mph. Wind damage was reported to roofs of outbuildings in Clayton. A large tree was toppled on the 200 block of Monroe.
August 2017Funnel CloudClayton-Several folks spotted a dramatic funnel cloud with a highly sinuous shape northwest of Clayton, NM near U.S. Highway 87. Observers never witnessed the funnel touch down.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindClayton-Outflow winds on the front side of an approaching thunderstorms downed several small tree limbs around Clayton. Pea size hail accumulated four inches deep.
April 2016HailClayton-Penny size hail just to the northeast of Clayton.
August 2016Flash FloodClayton-Highway 56 flooded between 4th and 6th streets. One to two feet of water over the roadway in low spots. Road impassable.
August 2016Flash FloodClayton-Fairgrounds flooded.
September 2016HailClayton-Penny size hail.
July 2013Funnel CloudClayton-The Clayton Police Dept. relayed reports of a funnel cloud associated with a severe thunderstorm storm in the area. A large funnel cloud was accompanied by several smaller funnel clouds. Rotation was not observed or evident on radar.
June 2013Funnel CloudClayton-Clayton police department relayed public report of possible funnel cloud south of Mount Dora near highways 67 and 84.
August 2009HailClayton-KVII-TV in Amarillo relayed a view report of penny size hail.
July 2007HailClayton-Most of the hail was 1.25 inches in diameter with a few stones ranging between 2.50 and 3 inches.
August 2006Flash FloodClayton-Rural roads reported flooded and unpassable around the Agricultural Research Station east of Clayton.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindClayton-A tree was blown over onto a house.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindClayton-Clayton Police Department reported winds estimated at 65 MPH northwest of Clayton. No reported damage occurred with these high winds.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindClayton-Clayton Police Department reported winds estimated at 65 MPH northwest of Clayton. No reported damage with these high winds.
July 1994HailClayton-Golf ball-size hail at Mt. Dora was reported by Clayton Police.
July 1994HailClayton-A severe thunderstorm over Union County produced strong winds and hail up to golf ball-size. The 52 knot winds was from the Clayton SAO. A local spotter reported the hail in Sedan with KLMX radio station providing the other reports.
July 1994HailClayton-A severe thunderstorm over Union County produced strong winds and hail up to golf ball-size. The 52 knot winds was from the Clayton SAO. A local spotter reported the hail in Sedan with KLMX radio station providing the other reports.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindClayton-A severe thunderstorm over Union County produced strong winds and hail up to golf ball-size. The 52 knot winds was from the Clayton SAO. A local spotter reported the hail in Sedan with KLMX radio station providing the other reports.
June 1994HailClayton-Dime-size hail reported west of Pasamonte by a storm spotter.
August 1993HailClayton-Golfball-size hail was reported by the Clayton Police Department.
August 2013HailClayton-no account filed
April 2012HailClayton-no account filed
April 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed
May 2010HailClayton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union County

Newspapers printed here

3,806 digitised pages

3 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 476 issues, 3,806 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
Clayton Enterprise1888 to 1906
The Clayton Citizen1906 to 19??
The Clayton News19?? to 1954

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 66000499 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Union CountyAll 11 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.