TimManBlog

Clovis, New Mexico

January 27, 2024
(Photos and memories of January 2007, 2011, and 2016)
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I’ve been to Curry County, New Mexico, thrice in the past 20 years, each time in January. Since I’m currently living in cold and snowy Colorado, a road trip down to the plains of eastern New Mexico offers a chance for some (relative) warmth and sunshine.

Although the street in the photo above looks rather deserted, Clovis is a relatively large town, having a population of 38,500. This is one of the largest towns in eastern New Mexico, a land of vast grasslands and ranches beyond the western border of the Texas Panhandle. Clovis is home to Cannon Air Force Base (a special operations base), a major BNSF Railway terminal, and the Southwest Cheese Company — the largest cheddar cheese producer in America. Only the larger town of Roswell (known best for its UFO encounters) rivals Clovis for eastern New Mexico supremacy.

The “western” culture is strong here.

Small-town photographers often show off their best photos in Main Street display windows. Their images provide a view into the local culture, which always interests me. Below is the work of Bob Morgan Photography in Clovis: guitars, rifles, pickup trucks, Airmen in uniform, and weddings on horse ranches. I love it; it’s classic New Mexico.

The Curry County Courthouse is further up Main Street. Its art deco features suggest that it was built in the 1930s, perhaps funded by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). The W.P.A. built dozens of rural courthouses throughout the U.S.

Here are three interesting photos found inside the courthouse highlighting significant events in the county’s 100-year history:
 (left) Massive snowfall in 1911.
 (middle) A 1934 dust storm during the Dust Bowl era.
 (right) A 1957 visit from President Dwight Eisenhower to inspect regional drought conditions.

Buddy Holly’s Connection to Clovis, New Mexico

Rock and Roll legend Buddy Holly was born in 1936 in Lubbock, Texas, 100 miles southeast of Clovis. (See my January 2012 post about Buddy Holly and Lubbock, “A Big and Notable Place — Lubbock, Texas“)

After souring on his first record deal with Nashville’s Decca Records, Holly reached out to record producer and Clovis native Norman Petty. In 1957, Buddy Holly recorded the hit single “That’ll Be the Day” in Norman Petty’s Clovis recording studio. It was Buddy Holly’s first hit single, reaching number 1 on the U.S. and U.K. charts. Later that same year, Holly recorded another hit single, “Peggy Sue,” at the Norman Petty Studios in Clovis. “Peggy Sue” reached number 3 on the U.S. charts and number 6 on the U.K. charts.

As they say, the rest is history. Here is where history was made.

The museum was opened in 2008. It boasts Clovis as “The Biggest Little Music City in the World!” Do check it out when you’re out on a wander in January.

Since we’re reminiscing about the 1950s, I thought this last photo would be an appropriate ending to this post. It’s a mural from a brick wall in downtown Clovis. Notice the roadrunner is in the bottom left corner, but the coyote is nowhere to be found.

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A list of all photo posts from the American County Seats series in TimManBlog can be found here.

All photos were taken by the author on January 30, 2007, January 22, 2011, or January 21, 2016.

My lifetime hobby is traveling to all of America’s county courthouses, and each month, I post about a visit to a scenic or exciting county seat. It’s a hobby, and donations are greatly appreciated to help cover my costs.
Thanks,
Tim