Fort Selden State Monument
For decades, the ruins of Fort Selden were consumed by the ravages of rain, snow and wind. Vandals, souvenir hunters and treasure-seekers added to its demise. In 1963, the land encompassing Fort Selden was donated to the state by Harry N. Bailey, a longtime resident of the area. In 1970, the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1974, the fort was declared a New Mexico state monument. It is overseen by the New Mexico State Monuments Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
The present day ruins are available for viewing via an interpretive trail. A visitor center offers exhibits on frontier and military life. Fort Selden State Monument is located 13 miles (21 km) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, off Exit 19 of Interstate 25, near Radium Springs, New Mexico.
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Famous quotes containing the words fort, state and/or monument:
“How often we read that the enemy occupied a position which commanded the old, and so the fort was evacuated! Have not the school-house and the printing-press occupied a position which commands such a fort as this?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Just across the Green from the post office is the county jail, seldom occupied except by some backwoodsman who has been intemperate; the courthouse is under the same roof. The dog warden usually basks in the sunlight near the harness store or the post office, his golden badge polished bright.”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The monument of death will outlast the memory of the dead. The Pyramids do not tell the tale which was confided to them; the living fact commemorates itself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)