Pancho Villa State Park

Three buildings in the park are on the National Register: the 1902 customs house that moved here with the railroad, two adobe structures from the Camp Furlong years, and the camp's 1916 recreation hall. The customs house later served as the park's meeting room and library. A 7,000-square-foot exhibit hall now carries the story from 1910 into the American entry into World War I, with a full-size replica of a Curtiss JN-3 Jenny and a 1916 Dodge touring car. The camp and surrounding town were made a National Historic Landmark district in 1975.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historical Marker Pancho Villa State Park Pancho Villa State Park commem- orates the historic Columbus Raid of 1916. Ruins of Camp Furlong, headquarters for General John Pershing's expeditionary force, still exist at the park. The old Columbus Customs Service build- ing has been restored to house exhibits about the raid and Pershing's Punitive Expedition into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa and his raiders. Camping/ picnicking sites are scattered throughout a beautiful desert botanical garden.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pancho Villa State Park — steps away
  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

• Pancho Villa State Park — steps away
• Pancho Villa's Raid — steps away
• Susan Parks — steps away
• First Aero Squadron Airfield — 0.2 mi