Old BWD Museum Fire

On March 29, 2022, the old Blackwater Draw Museum building on highway 70 between Portales and Clovis caught fire and was destroyed.

The old building was erected in the 1960s to house materials from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Landmark. It featured an arrow building layout, dioramas and murals.

Luckily, the building had not been in use since 2016 and all artifacts had been relocated since. Visitors can see the new museum which has been located on the Eastern New Mexico University campus since 2017.

The old museum was a complete loss but some of the murals survived as you can see through the window on the back wall in the photo above.

This fire, and several in the area recently, is a reminder of how cautious we must be with red flag and fire warnings in our area.