Las Cruces’ oldest neighborhood deserves more than neglect

Civil rights attorney Israel Chávez urges the City of Las Cruces to preserve and invest in the historic Mesquite District — a neighborhood rich in culture but long overlooked.

Israel Chávez, civil rights attorney and business owner in Las Cruces' original townsite

May is Historic Preservation Month — a time when communities across the country celebrate the places that shape our shared history. In Las Cruces, we should take this moment to reflect not just on preservation as a concept, but on how we, as a city, are failing to uphold it where it matters most: in our city’s original townsite.

The Mesquite neighborhood is the oldest in Las Cruces, born from the 19th-century townsite that grew along the El Camino Real. It is rich with the layered history of African-Americans who fled slavery and segregation, of detribalized Native peoples displaced yet enduring, and of Mexican-American families who helped build this city block by block. Its architecture is made up of modest adobe homes, corner tiendas and the remains of winding acequias is striking, distinctive and found nowhere else in Las Cruces.

And yet, to walk through the district today is to witness neglect by design.

The City of Las Cruces has long treated the Mesquite District as a burden. Infrastructure projects leapfrog the neighborhood, while historic buildings collapse from disrepair. Despite its cultural and historical richness, the city has made little effort to market the neighborhood or invest in its preservation. In doing so, we’re not just allowing history to erode, we are actively erasing it.

That erasure isn’t just physical. It’s narrative. Where are the city-sponsored tours that tell the story of Black homesteaders who found refuge here, or of Indigenous families who carved out community after community was stripped from them? Where is the signage explaining the architecture, or the community art reflecting the district’s roots? Other cities across New Mexico celebrate their historic districts. Old Mesilla, Santa Fe, Silver City, and yet Las Cruces ignores its own origin story.

But this is not just about history. It’s about opportunity.

We invite the city and its leadership to engage in a meaningful dialogue on how to uplift the historic districts in our town.

Israel Chávez is a civil rights and criminal defense attorney based in New Mexico. Learn more at www.ichavezlaw.com. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Feel free to send your own commentary to OrganMountainNews@gmail.com.