Simple economics have determined the nature of this small town. It started as a railroad stop in 1899. The railroad brought business, as well as a county seat, to Carrizozo. This building went up in 1917, when Carrizozo was booming. With rise of the automobile, the railroad’s importance diminished. The last passenger train passed through in 1968, and by the end of the 20th century only a thousand or so people lived here. The very nature of this building, built in 1917, offers a sense of this place today. The name of the town is scrawled in neon along its façade. It seems to be a ghost building – its rooms appear to be vacant. Yet a life sized sculpture of a burro stands incongruously atop the structure. Other burro sculptures line the town’s main street. The sole figure in the picture (and the only person we met in this town) turned out to be the husband of the local artist who created those burros. The burro sculptures symbolize Carrizozo’s effort to gradually renew itself through tourism.