Dawson and Dawson Cemetery

Dawson and Dawson Cemetery is a New Mexico historical marker in Colfax County.

County Road A38 off US 64 -- Cimarron vicinity -- 5 miles west off US 64 at end of road (14 miles NE of Cimarron) · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

(SIDE 1) Dawson was established by the Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1901 to develop the region’s vast coal deposits. In its heyday, it was the largest company mining town in New Mexico, with many modern amenities, and a population of more than 6000. Named after John Dawson, who owned part of the historic Beaubien – Miranda land grant on which it is located, the town was abandoned when the mines closed in 1950. (SIDE 2) This was the cemetery for the coal mining town of Dawson. Its grave markers reflect the diverse immigrant populations which came to this country seeking a better life, and which fueled America’s industrial development. Hundreds of identical crosses, which mark the graves of miners killed in mine accidents in 1913 and 1923, demonstrate the great sacrifices of these pioneers.

The Historic Preservation Division notes that its marker spreadsheet may be out of date and in places inaccurate, and that it does not know where every marker now stands. These pages carry the spreadsheet’s record; a marker listed here may have moved or may no longer stand. the program’s page ↗

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1883 · New Mexico. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1889 · New Mexico. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1903 · New Mexico. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · New Mexico (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1955 · Cimarron, New Mexico (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

New Mexico, 1903, covering the location of Dawson and Dawson Cemetery, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — New Mexico, 1903, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours and the location is approximate.

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Marker data: Official Scenic Historic Markers program, New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural AffairsMarker texts come from the Division’s published marker spreadsheet, reproduced with the Division’s written permission. Where that spreadsheet records a coordinate, the pin is the Division’s own; where it records only a highway and mile marker, an address, a junction or a named place, or where its coordinate contradicts its own highway, mile and county, the pin is ours, resolved on public road and place data and marked approximate.

Dawson and Dawson Cemetery

Historical maps covering this location

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