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Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur

Lake Arthur Municipal Building Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks

Seven miles south of Roswell, New Mexico Highway Two connects with U. S. Highway 285. At the end of 33 miles it reconnects with 285. Three small towns are spread along this route:  Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur. Greenfield must once have been a town too, but now it is only a dot on the map.

Dexter, population 988, elevation 3,450 feet, is the first small town 18 miles southeast of Roswell.

In January 1903, Theodore Burr, a native of Denmark, Milton H. Elford from Canada and Albert E. Macey, an Iowa farmer, filed Articles of Incorporation as members of the Dexter Townsite Company. Mr. Macey proceeded to name the town after his home town in Iowa, and alfalfa fields soon dotted the landscape. Now, in addition to the alfalfa, the Dexter Fish Hatchery is located along the banks of the Pecos River, a center for the study and rearing of endangered fish species.

Lake Van, a small lake 1/2 mile east of the center of Dexter, has a small boat landing and a fishing dock. A restaurant overlooks the lake where the ducks swim or waddle on the shore waiting for food handouts. It is also the locale of a recreation area with a park and a swimming pool, yet surrounded by residences.

A sidelight of history is found in the Presbyterian Church. During World War II, German prisoners made the glass windows installed in the church.

Like many small towns, the welcome signs indicate the community’s support of their high school athletic teams. Seven miles from Dexter, "Welcome to Hagerman, Home of the Bobcats, State Champs," is an example. The town was named for J.J. Hagerman, owner of the Chisum Ranch. An altitude of 3,419 and population 931, Hagerman is in the middle of cotton fields in a flat farmland area. Recently dairies have begun locating here. The names of the streets indicate some sort of tie to the United Kingdom:  Oxford, Aberdeen, Perth, Winchester. The annual celebration for Hagerman takes the form of an Outhouse Race in the spring. Outhouses are mounted on wheels and pulled through the streets.

One source indicates the crime rate is low because the Town Council keeps a tight rein on the community. Whether true or apocryphal, several years ago some residents complained about a local beekeeper’s bees. The Council found an ordinance that ruled one must own one acre to have a farm animal with a half-acre for each animal. Situation solved when they decided bees were farm animals.

Lake Arthur, with no lake, at 3,366 altitude and population 367, is eight miles south of Hagerman. Research has provided little information about its origin, but in 1977 it received attention because of the Rubio family. On October 5, as Mrs.Rubio was preparing burritos for her husband’s lunch, an image of Jesus Christ appeared on a flour tortilla. The tortilla has been made into a shrine that is generously shared by the Rubio family.

Pecan orchards are developing in Lake Arthur. The streets here are named for states:  Oklahoma, Delaware, Kansas. A J.O.Y. (Just Older Youth) Center caters to the senior citizen crowd and there is a new school building as well as a new municipal building. The State History of Education Museum is located here. Constructed in 1906, the Lake Arthur Elementary School has been memorialized as the oldest continuously used school building in New Mexico.

Eleven more miles on Highway Two again connects it with U.S. Highway 285. About 55 miles south is Carlsbad Caverns and 33 miles north is Roswell.

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