County: Torrance 

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Year Established: 1908

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Year Abandoned: Post office closed 1990

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Location: Cedarvale is located on New                   Mexico State Road 42, 10.2 miles northwest of Corona

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About: Edward Smith, William Taylor, and Oliver P. DeWolfe of Cedarvale, Kansas laid out this farming community in 1908.

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Hundreds of homesteaders arrived on immigrant trains. Most farmed pinto beans, shipping their crop to distant markets. The area was the largest producer for pinto beans in the 1920's.

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In 1917, the community successfully petitioned to build a large schoolhouse. The WPA added classrooms and a gym in 1935-36. At the school's peak, it served 50 students. The school was an integral part of the community with the gym often used as a social gathering place.  Drought and the Depression substantially reduced the population. 

 

Remains: Please be mindful of the current residents and please obey the no trespassing signs. As of now there is still a school worth seeing and a couple of abandoned buildings.

 

I would not advise going inside the school.