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About The House
 This stately home of James Phelps White, a Roswell
landmark since it's construction in 1910, now stands
amidst towering elms as the Chaves County Historical
Museum; a reminder of turn of the century life in
southeastern New Mexico.
With it's gently sweeping rooflines, and large
porches, the yellow brick home is a grand example of
the prairie-style house developed by Frank Lloyd
Wright.
To step inside is to step back in time. The home is
filled with an incredible array of antiques and
artifacts, many contributed by generous Chaves County
residents - things like an Edison Amberola phonograph
that plays cylinder shaped recordings and a buggy
footwarmer waiting to be filled with hot coals.
Everywhere are likenesses of early prominent citizens.
A turn-of-the century kitchen has been painstakingly
recreated down to the smallest detail, including
vintage appliances like a wood and gas-burning
cookstove, ice box, and pie safe. Hundreds of
utensils of the day and a realistically stocked
pantry complete the realism.
Upstairs is a gallery of ever-changing exhibits
featuring subjects as varied as the History of
American fashion and a display of "little adult"
toys. The third floor houses the archives of the
Historical Society, providing an abundance of
invaluable rare books, photos, business and family
records of early Southeastern New Mexico
For Chaves County residents, tourists, and scholars,
the Chaves County Historical Museum offers a unique
look at the area's past and retraces the path our
fathers and grandparents followed on there way into
the twentieth century.
Our museum and historical center is located at 200 N. Lea Ave., Roswell,
New Mexico 88201. It is a beautiful prairie style house built in 1912, which
gives a glimpse of a simpler time when life seemed to move at a much slower
pace. The first floor is furnished and decorated as it would have been in 1912 to
1920. Many of the furnishings are the originals. Several rooms on the 2nd floor
have been converted into displays and exhibits of early Roswell and the
surrounding area.
The archives are located in a new two story building next door. The
archives contain over 11,000 photographs of the past, thousands of books and
manuscripts, obituaries, newspaper articles dating back to the early 1900's and
other memorabilia that depict the wild west days of the Pecos Valley. Ask us for
photographs or information about Southeast New Mexico, Roswell, NM, Pecos
Valley, and Chaves County.
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