Friday, November 13, 2009

Orogrande National Forest


     Orogrande New Mexico.  Where might that be you might wonder, well it is on the way to El Paso from Alamogordo.  It used to be a mining town at the turn of the last century and boasted over 2,000 residents in it's heyday.  It still is scattered with old mines and rumors of turquoise nuggets... There used to be a bar, a post office and other attractions.  Now all gone.  I remember stopping at a gas station there as a kid and they had this iguana that would sun itself in the large front window.  To my memory that thing was HUGE, three feet or so.  There also used to be a "National Forest" there as proven by its picture on this aging bumper sticker.  I have a photo of it somewhere... A lonely tree that has since disappeared...It wasnt particularly large, but it was the only one around.

3 comments:

  1. Fond memories of the Orogrande National Forest . . . I grew up in El Paso and now live in Salem Oregon. I was just telling some co-workers about the "forest" recently. Used to love to see it as a kid on the way to Alamogordo, we really got a kick out of a one tree national forest.

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  2. I recently moved to El Paso and discovered Brice Cemetery. Apparently there are a couple of ghost towns but I have not been able to locate them. Such a mysterious place.

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  3. When I lived in Sunspot, NM, around 1980, the Orogrande National Forest was alive and healthy. And the people of Orogrande obviously had a great sense of humor. Not only was the one-tree national forest well labeled, but so was the Orogrande International Airport. A private plane flying from El Paso to Alamogordo had to make an emergency landing on Hwy 54 near Orogrande. Soon there were signs pointing to baggage claim, ticketing, control tower, etc. Always got a kick out of driving thru Orogrande!

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