Cambray, New Mexico - The Lost CCC Town

[MatthewAnderson707]

Cambray is an unknown ghost town near the Luna/Dona Ana county line on New Mexico Route 548. The town itself lies within Luna County. The town can be reached easily from I-10. If you're heading west on I-10 through New Mexico, take Exit 116, turn left, cross over the Interstate, then turn right on NM 548 and head west. Eastbound travelers can take Exit 102 turn right on the overpass road, then left on NM 548 and head east. Halfway down the road from both ends are the ruins.

During the height of the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps set up a labor camp of small Adobe cabins within the small service stop town of Cambray along what was then US Highway 80. The workmen often purchased all the food and logistics they needed from the general store directly in front of their work camp. Work projects in the area included the construction and maintenance of irrigation ditches and water channels for local farmers and maintenance of US 80 itself. The largest project was the construction of a large overpass above the Southern Pacific Railroad to bypass a rudimentary 1927 at grade crossing interstate travelers often had to use along old US 80 between San Diego, California and Savannah, Georgia. During the 40s and early 50s, Cambray continued its earlier existence as a service stop for US 80 travelers. In the mid 1950s, a new four lane divided section of US 80 was built between Deming and Las Cruces, bypassing Cambray all together. The town very quickly lost business and was abandoned. Today, the crumbling adobe ruins of the general store, a few unknown abandoned buildings and one or two CCC cabins are all that remains of old Cambray. Most of the CCC cabins were torn down and a private house now stands on the site. The CCC overpass was demolished around 2015 and replaced with a new one of modern construction by the New Mexico Department of Transportation. While interesting to visit and look at, Cambray is not open to the public and is on private property, so admire from a distance if you plan on seeing it.

EDIT: I typed the word "c a n a l" as in artificial waterway, but for some reason the filter on the site registered it as an offensive word. I don't understand why that happened, but I'm sorry for the confusion everyone.

[ErinKay]

it would be my next trip