Museums & History
The Village known today as Eagle Nest has a wonderful and storied past of gunslingers, ghost towns, gold mining and wide-open, peaceful spaces. The Village has been the crossroads of many pioneers and frontier Indians for centuries. Both the famed ‘Colfax County War’ and Kit Carson’s adventures have taken place near here and have been recorded in the pages of Eagle Nest history books. Visit nearby Elizabethtown and Virginia City, both of which were vibrant and growing towns in the mining boom days. Both have lots of stories to tell and reveal the relics of their past.
Photo courtesy of Candee Rinde
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Enchanted Circle Gateway Museum
580 E. Therma Dr., Eagle Nest, NM 87718
The Museum features culture and history exhibits, facilitates tours of historic places, makes power point presentations of Moreno Valley history available to groups, stocks various maps, and has a a small research library, photographs and visitor information of area events and activities. |
Photo courtesy of Candee Rinde
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Eagle Nest DamThe Dam was substantially completed June 30, 1918 and operational to impound and release water. Although the original plans specified a 140’-0 structure, the finished dam is 124’-0 tall and surveyed to contain 78,800 acre feet when filled to spillway. Final inspection and certification of the structure was done December 09, 1918 by State Engineer James A. French and it was named Eagle Nest Dam. Click Here to read more.
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ElizabethtownEstablished in 1866 with the opening of area gold mines, Elizabethtown was the first incorporated town in New Mexico and once held the county seat. It died out by 1917 with the decline in the mines. While there is very little left of the original buildings, there is a museum on site which is a must-see.
Five miles north of Eagle Nest on State Road 38. Elizabethtown is located just off New Mexico State Road 38, between the communities of Eagle Nest and Red River, just east of the Carson National Forest. Read More about Elizabethtown. |
