Vaughn, New Mexico
Named for Major G. W. Vaughn, a former civil engineer for the AT & SF Ry. It has had
a post office since 1907. Vaughn was a shipping point for cattle, wool and sheep. During
the early 1930's it was also a shipping point for iced down refers full of rabbits to be
shipped back east (This was during the great depression).
Before New Mexico Statehood (1912) Vaughn, New Mexico was a town of about 2,000. It had four
churches; Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Catholic; all of which were holding regular
Sunday services. There was no street lighting for the streets, water or sewer when
Vaughn was started. Water had to be hauled over twenty miles by tank cars from the
Santa Fe water wells. There was an out-house in back of every home or business.
The first mayor of Vaughn was Doctor G. A. Miller. Homesteaders tried to raise pinto
beans, corn, cane and vegetables. The caliche soil was not suitable for farming and the
men had to work for the railroad in order to make a living for their families. Those who
were unable to work for the railroad loaded up their belongings and moved on to greener
pastures.
East Vaughn (1 mile east of Vaughn) has had a post office since 1911. During WW I
Vaughn had a post office, three grocery stores, a lumber yard, a Citizens Bank, two
doctors, and a theatre (where Sol Kilmer and his boys played for the silent movies). The
main industry was the AT & SF Railroad. It could be said that the railroad is responsible
for building Vaughn, the same as it started many more towns and cities in this great
southwest.
Harold Kilmer
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