Lordsburg's WPA-Built Adobe Library Has Served Hidalgo County Since 1937

The Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library at 208 E. Third Street holds more than 22,000 volumes inside a Works Progress Administration adobe completed in 1937, making it Hidalgo County's primary learning hub and one of only two libraries in New Mexico that derives its primary funding from a county rather than a municipality.

Seven special collections give the library particular depth for students, researchers, and working adults: Reference, Southwest, Spanish, Children's, Grant Writing, Literacy, and Audio-Visual. The Literacy and Grant Writing sections serve a dual purpose as workforce and civic development resources, supporting residents working through job applications, adult education coursework, and community funding projects. Public-use computers and free WiFi extend access to county residents without reliable home broadband, and the collection includes electronic and audio books alongside a film lending inventory.

The Aztec-Pueblo style structure emerged from a partnership between the town of Lordsburg and Hidalgo County under the New Deal's Works Progress Administration, at last giving a permanent home to a community library effort that had operated in temporary quarters since 1919. The adobe wall enclosing the library grounds is older still, dating to the Hidalgo County Courthouse Park of the 1920s. When the WPA completed the building, it housed not just the library but also the Hidalgo County Health Department and the Justice of the Peace, consolidating civic functions under one roof at a moment when federal investment was rebuilding small-town infrastructure across the Depression-era Southwest.

The building has since expanded its library function entirely. In 1988, 12 pioneer families donated the stained-glass windows now installed in the lobby atrium and the children's room, and the library today occupies the entire structure. It continues to be supported by Hidalgo County, the city of Lordsburg, private donations, and grants.

That sustained investment has earned the building state and federal recognition. It appears on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places and is catalogued by Living New Deal, which tracks surviving WPA-era projects nationwide. Preservation specialists who study WPA-era facilities across New Mexico consistently identify continuous active occupancy as the most reliable protection against structural decline in rural public buildings. By that measure, Lordsburg's library has accumulated 89 consecutive years of evidence.

The library is located at 208 E. Third Street in Lordsburg and can be reached at (575) 542-9646. Staff assist researchers seeking access to the local history collection, vertical files, and genealogical records on an appointment basis; current program schedules and hours are available on the library's website.