Historical Marker
Carrizozo Woman's Club
Carrizozo, Lincoln County · New Mexico
The building nearly did not make it to its listing. In 2002 the New Mexico Cultural Preservation Alliance named it one of the ten most endangered properties in the state, and the warning sent club members into its records to prepare a nomination; it entered the National Register in 2003, one of a statewide group of federated women's club buildings that includes the clubhouses at Alamogordo and Silver City. The Round Room the panel describes is thirty feet across. J. C. Garrison, the WPA foreman, is its architect of record.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Carrizozo Woman's Club Woman's clubs play an important role in communities by providing volunteer opportunities, performing civic and social improvements, and establishing public buildings and parks. In New Mexico independent woman's clubs formed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The New Mexico Federation of Women's Clubs was established in 1911 and is affiliated with the national General Federation of Women's Clubs founded in 1890. The Carrizozo Woman's Club was founded in 1920 and is a member of both federations. The club met in public buildings and member's houses before this building was constructed. See other side Official Scenic Historic Marker Continued The Carrizozo Woman's Club building serves as a gathering place for cultural, community, and social events. The building was constructed in 1939 with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding and was designed by Jess C. Garrison, a local builder and WPA crew foreman. The building is an excellent example of Pueblo Revival-style architecture with its adobe construction, exposed vigas, and portal. The main meeting room, the Round Room, has an elaborate ceiling with exposed vigas radiating from a central point.
Where it stands
33.64265, -105.87896 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Smokey Bear Historical Park — 19 miThe small park in Capitan where the living Smokey Bear is buried, a cub found clinging to a burned tree in the Capitan Mountains in 1950, six years after the cartoon was invented.
- Three Rivers Petroglyph Site — 22 miMore than 21,000 petroglyphs on a basalt ridge above the Tularosa Basin, one of the few places in the Southwest set aside for its rock art alone, walked on a rough half-mile trail.