Columbus

The first Columbus stood right on the line. Colonel Andrew Bailey founded it in 1891 opposite Palomas, the town a railroad promoter had planned just south of the border, and built a two-story frame house to sell lots from. When the El Paso and Southwestern laid its line from El Paso to Douglas in 1902, the right of way ran three miles north. Promoters of a townsite company persuaded Bailey to move the town onto the tracks and ran an excursion train from El Paso with a barbecue and music to sell the new lots. The customs house followed.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Columbus Columbus was founded in 1891 as a U.S./Mexico border station but eventually coalesced around the railroad station three miles to the north in 1903. The area's history is tied to a March 9, 1916, raid on Columbus by Mexican revolution- ary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa. President Woodrow Wilson dispatched General John J. Pershing and 10,000 troops into Mexico to pursue Villa. This punitive expedition ultimately failed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pancho Villa State Park — 2.2 mi
  The site of Camp Furlong at Columbus, named for the revolutionary whose raiders attacked the town in 1916, as a gesture of friendship toward Mexico.

More markers nearby

• First Aero Squadron Airfield — 2.2 mi
• Susan Parks — 2.2 mi
• Pancho Villa State Park — 2.3 mi
• Pancho Villa State Park — 2.3 mi