Eastern New Mexico University

Seven years passed between the law and the first class. The legislature put the school in Portales in 1927 and paid for a first building in 1929, and then the Depression stalled it; classes began on June 4, 1934, with 165 students in a summer session. The word normal was dropped before opening, because another teachers' school drew opposition around the state, and it opened as Eastern New Mexico Junior College under Donald MacKay, a state rural-school supervisor hired after others declined. The university's own count for that first year is 299, not the panel's 274.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Eastern New Mexico University This university was established at Portales in 1927 bt the State Legislature as the Eastern New Mexico Normal School. It opened for the 1934-35 School year with 274 students. Originally established to train teachers for rural schools, Eastern now has a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs to serve the instructional, public service and research needs of the state and the nation.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blackwater Draw — 6.9 mi
  The site between Clovis and Portales that gave the Clovis culture its name, found by a nineteen-year-old in 1929 and dug for decades inside a working gravel pit.

More markers nearby

• Portales — steps away
• Portales — 2.5 mi
• Rose Powers White — 7.5 mi
• Blackwater Draw — 7.5 mi