BLACKDOM, NEW MEXICO

Blackdom in southeastern New Mexico was a settlement of African-American homesteaders about 16 miles south of Roswell. The "kingdom" was established around 1900 by Francis Marion Boyer who had walked from Georgia to New Mexico pursuing the dream of his father to establish a self-sustaining community.

But irrigation in the Blackdom area was unsuccessful and the community withered until in 1920 Francis Boyer and his wife and many other of the residents resettled in Vado, New Mexico, a town near the Texas border, and on the Rio Grande River.

What was once Blackdom is, in 1998, being used for ranching. There is also a new County Detention Center that's been built near abandoned Blackdom.