The entire nation suffered during the Great Depression that followed in the wake of the 1929 Stock Market Crash. But each part of the country was affected in different ways. In New Mexico, farmers were the hardest hit. The economic crisis combined with a long drought that actually turned New Mexico into part of the Dust Bowl. A 1937 dust storm was so massive that it stretched a mile wide and 1500 feet high. And it wasn’t just farmers who were affected. During the 1920s, New Mexico was already one of the poorest states and the crash only made a bad situation worse, especially in rural areas. The New Deal projects helped many return to work. However, the 1930s were a tough decade for most New Mexicans. The following 25 historic photos of New Mexico give you a hint at life during those years:
1. This family is fleeing from the Oklahoma drought. After trying their luck in other states, they were headed to the cotton fields of Roswell, when their car stalled near Lordsburg.
2. A man constructed this home from adobe bricks at Bosque Farms. During the Depression, the government bought Bosque Farms and turned it into a resettlement project for those escaping the Dust Bowl.
3. A dust storm blowing near the town of Mills.
4. By 1935, there wasn't much life left in Mills. The bank shut its doors, and the grain elevator you see in the background is derelict.
5. The Farm Security Administration addressed rural poverty by resettling families on government owned farms.
6. This woman is one of those who was relocated.
7. Another rehabilitation client preparing the fields for irrigation.
8. This photo was taken at Bosque Farms. These children were the daughters...
9. ...And sons of resettled farmers.
10. This image shows Native Americans working at the Indian Service School. The school was located in Taos.
11. These two photos were part of a collection from the Farm Security Administration. That leads us to believe the Indian Service School was an FSA project. (If you know more about the school, we'd love to hear about it in the comments.)
12. The Works Progress Administration put people to work weaving rag rugs.
13. This is a post office on a land use project in the Las Cruces area.
14. The post office served those arriving via car or wagon.
15. This home was one of those already in place before work on the land use project started.
16. Here are some gas prices in New Mexico from the 1930s. Gotta love the price breakdown!
17. The man shown here used to own the land that became the White Sands Missile Range.
18. This picture of Elephant Butte Dam is from 1936. Its construction was completed in 1916.
19. A store at Rancho de Taos, in April 1936.
20. Advertising during the 1930s doesn't look so different. This photo montage was outside a photographer's Albuquerque studio.
21. Even in hard times, people found ways to have fun. These boys attended a summer camp in El Porvenir. Apparently, they acquired a pet bird!
22. Breakfast at the same summer camp.
23. In 1936, these kids went to a carnival in Roswell.
24. People have always had a blast on the dunes at White Sands.
25. This last photo was taken in 1939, during Bean Day celebrations in Wagon Mound. The event continues to this day and is held over Labor Day weekend.
Do you have any stories about New Mexico during the Great Depression? Feel free to share them on the Only In New Mexico Facebook Page.
To see more photos from New Mexico’s past, check out these articles about life here in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
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