Historical Marker
Sumner Lake State Park
Fort Sumner, De Baca County · New Mexico
The new name came by act of Congress to fix a traffic problem. Built by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1936 and 1937 as Alamogordo Dam, storing Pecos water for Carlsbad, the reservoir kept drawing travelers who expected it near the city of Alamogordo, some 211 road miles away. In October 1974 President Ford signed a bill renaming dam and lake for Fort Sumner, twenty-one miles downstream. The man behind that name was Edwin Vose Sumner, a colonel; the panel's Colonial Edmond is a double slip, and even the state geology guide spells him Edmund.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Sumner Lake State Park Sumner Lake was originally named Alamogordo Lake after Alamogordo Creek. The lake and surrounding land became a state park in 1960. In 1974, the lake and state park were renamed Sumner in honor of Colonial Edmond Vose Sumner who in the mid 19th Century established forts Craig, Fillmore, Thorn, and Union.
Where it stands
34.60520, -104.28067 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Bosque Redondo Memorial — 15 miThe state site at Fort Sumner that for decades told the story of an army post and an outlaw, remade with Diné and Ndé people into a memorial to those held here.
- Blue Hole — 32 miA bell-shaped artesian spring in Santa Rosa, 81 feet deep and a steady 61 or 62 degrees, where divers from across the region learn to dive at altitude.