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Playas, New Mexico
Hidalgo County
Elevation 4,311
The town site of Playas in located in the Playas Valley, named for a dry lake bed located about 10 miles to the south. The valley is bordered on the west by the Animas Mountains and on the east by the Little Hatchet Mountains. Several mining operations existed in the Little Hachet Mountains. The location of Playas was selected because of the valley's ample water supply that was needed for the railroads operation. In addition, cattle grazing in the grasslands of this valley made this location good for local ranchers to ship cattle from Playas. The town was built in 1902 with the railroad. A Post Office existed from 1913 to 1918. Years after operation of the railroad ceased, Phelps Dodge Corp. built a copper smelter about 10 miles south of this location on the Playas Lake. To provide employees of the smelter a a place to live in this remote desert area, a town was constructed near the smelter. This town was also named Playas, but with no relation to the original town, other that the name.
Some of the cattle pens and stockyards are still standing at Playas.
The roadside marker located at the former site of Playas, New Mexico along NM Highway 9. The marker reads:
Playas Siding
In 1902, Phelps, Dodge and Company built the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad to link El Paso, Texas with the copper mines of Bisbee, Arizona, and eventually, with several other mining towns throughout the region. Highway 9, New Mexico's "Border Route" between Columbus and Rodeo parallels the old rail line, and actually utilizes a portion of the abandoned EP & SW railroad bed between Columbus and Anapra.
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This page is part of the "Ghosts of the Southline" website, illustrating the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad and many of the abandoned towns along its route.
Photographs and documentation found on this website are the property of Lloyd W. Sumner
This site was created and is maintained by Lloyd W. Sumner
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