In September 1890, the cornerstone was laid for McFie Hall, also known as “Old Main.” The building was named for prominent Las Crucen and judge John R. McFie and was destroyed by a fire 20 years later. The cornerstone still stands on the NMSU Horseshoe, next to the flagpole.
The Carlsbad Instructional Center, the first community college in New Mexico, is created by an agreement between the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and the Carlsbad Board of Education in 1950. Ten years later, the center was renamed as a branch campus of New Mexico State University.
Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930, arrived as a faculty member at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1955. He was instrumental in designing and obtaining funding for NMSU’s Tortugas Mountain Observatory.
New Mexico State University of Agriculture, Engineering and Science shortens its name, officially becoming New Mexico State University in 1960.
The first NuMex plant varieties were released. The NuMex Big Jim chile, a popular type of chile pepper developed by chile breeder Roy Nakayama in 1975, was the first NuMex cultivar of any sort.
McFie Hall cornerstone
Tombaugh
Nakayama
Dove Hall, Room 212
305 N. Horseshoe Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88003
