Mount Dora, New Mexico
HISTORY
Welcome to Mount Dora, New Mexico
There Once Were Three Hotels And A General Store.
Mount Dora, New Mexico is located in Union County, New Mexico approximately 3 miles from an inactive shield volcano named Mount Dora, a landmark for travelers on the old Cimarron Route of the Santa Fe Trail on the high plains of northeast New Mexico.
Mount Dora, New Mexico was named after a nearby geographic feature, Mount Dora, which US Senator Stephen W. Dorsey of Arkansas named to honor his sister-in-law.
Mount Dora, the mountain, was a notable landmark on the Cimarron Route of The Santa Fe Trail and is a dormant shield volcano. When the railroad came to the area, Mount Dora was a shipping point for cattle, sheep, and grain on the Colorado & Southern Railroad.
Mount Dora had a post office from 1908 to 2002. Unfortunately, the couple that ran the post office were the only people that lived in Mount Dora, and when they decided to retire, there was no one left to run the post office, so it closed permanently in 2002.
PHOTOS
Sights Around Mount Dora, New Mexico
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MAMIYA 6 & ILFORD DELTA 100
Greetings From Mount Dora
Mount Dora, New Mexico was named after a nearby geographic feature, Mount Dora, which US Senator Stephen W. Dorsey of Arkansas named to honor his sister-in-law.
Senator Dorsey was a one-term senator from the Republican Party and served from 1873 to 1879 during reconstruction. Despite being acquitted of defrauding the government $412k with his partners, the Senator's career was over.
Dorsey raised cattle and mined in New Mexico and Colorado before moving west to Los Angeles for the rest of his days. US Senator Stephen W. Dorsey's body rests in Denver at the Fairmont Cemetery, and no other Republican would be elected to the Senate from Arkansas until 1999.
If you have a sister-in-law and an opportunity to name something in her honor, would you?
MAMIYA 6 & ILFORD DELTA 100
Cieneguilla Del Burro Mountain
Before being named Mount Dora, the mountain in New Mexico had been known as Cieneguilla del Burro Mountain, named after a nearby creek. The loose translation of Cieneguilla del Burro Mountain is Jackass Swamp Mountain.
Mount Dora is a dormant shield volcano formed by multiple slow lava flows over the past 3 million years and is the 2nd most prominent volcano in the region, measuring 4 miles in diameter with a peak of approximately 6,290 feet above sea level.
For reference, Mount Dora, the volcano, is about 3 miles from the town of Mount Dora, New Mexico.
Which name do you prefer, Cieneguilla del Burro Mountain or Mount Dora?
MAMIYA 6 & ILFORD DELTA 100
Next Stop, Mount Dora
Mount Dora, New Mexico was a shipping point for cattle, sheep, and grain on the Colorado & Southern Railroad.
The Colorado & Southern formed in 1898 as the result of a consolidation of a few bankrupt railroads. In Texas, the Colorado & Southern Railroad was known as the Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad due to a Texas law requiring all railroads that operated in Texas to be incorporated within Texas.
The railroads transformed the way people traveled and moved goods across the country. Mount Dora was fortunate enough to benefit from this transition as many of the communities on the Cimarron Route never had a railroad come through their towns.
Have you ever taken a train across the country?
MAMIYA 6 & ILFORD DELTA 100
Ghosts Of Mount Dora
Mount Dora, New Mexico had a post office from 1908 to 2002. However, the couple that ran the post office until 2002 were the only people that lived in Mount Dora, and when they decided to retire, there was no one left to run the post office, so it closed permanently. The nearest post office today is 17 miles away in Grenville, New Mexico.
There once were three hotels in town and a general store.
Seriously though, this is all that I could find about Mount Dora, New Mexico, and there's no disputing that Mount Dora, New Mexico is an authentic ghost town.
Would you pull off the highway and check out Mount Dora if you're ever in the area?
