A Dip Into Deming (10/28/26)

Yesterday, Bob and I drove an hour southeast of Silver City along Highway 180 to the town of Deming. As this is the way we had entered Silver City, we had passed Deming on our way to the housesit but thought we’d go back to actually see some of the town.

Deming is the county seat of Luna County (Silver City is in Grant County) with a population of about 15,000. It is named for Mary Ann Deming Crocker, the wife of Charles Crocker, one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad. A “silver spike” was driven in Deming in 1881 to mark the connection of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads which completed the nation’s second transcontinental railroad. We learned this and a bit more about Deming at the Visitor Center and the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum.

A sign showing Deming’s location in Southwestern New Mexico

The sign providing information about the namesake for the town

A photo of Mary Deming Crocker inside the Visitor Center

A photo of Charles Crocker
from the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum

Bob was his usual gregarious self in the Visitor Center and hit it off with the helpful staff person. I picked up some brochures for things to do in the area and near Albuquerque during our next housesit, and Bob got two coupons for free wine tastings at one of the local wineries.

Our next stop was the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum which was just a short drive from the Visitor Center. It bills itself as the largest free museum in New Mexico, and it did have a lot of displays— both about the history of the area but also local individual’s collections like nutcrackers or button hooks. It notes that everything in the museum was donated by residents, visitors, or organizations. It was an eclectic and interesting perusal.

The building is a former armory but also must have served
as a gymnasium at some point as well

Some important location information about Deming

Apparently this mirror was hanging
in the drug store of Columbus, New Mexico,
when it was looted by Pancho Villa and his gang.

This is a portion of the exhibits on the upper floor of the museum

This section contains sports memorabilia for local residents

The school exhibit — mostly for the high school Deming Wildcats

They had quite a display of yearbooks,
so I chose the issue for the year I graduated high school.

More of the displays on the upper level
on the old gymnasium floor

There was quite an extensive exhibit
on the local Czech community

A bedroom set donated by a local family that was once used
by the Mother Superior at the Holy Cross Sanatorium

The medical room had two iron lungs
— both with mannequins in them.
Bob got a chuckle out of my getting startled by the adult one,
as the first thing you see coming into the room
is a head coming out of a large machine.

This was a surprise random fine.
It is a Braille edition of a Playboy Magazine.

Bob and I both felt an affinity for this clock,
as the carpenter that made it was born in Wisconsin
but worked for a company in Charles City, Iowa,
and died in Des Moines.

The carpenter, Louis Heinrich Frederick Sonntag, with his clock

A Centennial Quilt made by Jean Bergstrom

There was a whole room dedicated
to local citizens who have served in combat.
This display shows the wedding outfits and photos
for Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Brewer who wed in 1943.
Mr. Brewer was stationed in Deming during WWII.

There were cabinets and cabinets full
of colorful and interesting rocks from all over the world.
This is a sample of local Deming Agate.

And this is not local if the story provided is true

A hearse from 1893-1909 but used locally for funerals throughout the 1970s and ‘80s.

Replicas of the silver spike commemorating the completion
of the 2nd transcontinental railroad.

After our visit to the museum, we headed to the Lescombes Winery for our free tasting. We had the place to ourselves and each tried 3 different wines from two of their lines of wine.