As some of you know my maternal grandmother, a native of Comache, TX, bought five lots in a proposed development called Sundland Park of the Horizon Land Corp likely sometime in the 1960s. If memory serves, Horizon went bankrupt in the early 1970s. The tax assessor for El Paso County, TX, charged extremely low taxes (<$10/year) from perhaps the 1980s until roughly the mid-1990s. Photos on the sales brochure for Sunland Park, TX, showed what was essentially desert wasteland with sand &/or gravel with very little vegetation.
But because I got off of I-10 East a bit early when I recognized a name I had seen in looking at Horizon City on Mapquest, I drove east on a secondary road until I came to a Burger King; couldn't access any WiFi from their parking lot so I drove to the Socorro Police Sub-Station and asked the woman working the desk if she could tell me how to get to Horizon City. I also explained why I was in the area and she said her father-in-law had also bought some property in or near Horizon City, but had only paid taxes once in the 1990s, which was when he made his purchase.
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As I left the police sub-station I notice some rather old buildings across the street. There was an explanatory plaque in front of one building which was still in use, so I walked around behind it and took the photo above of something which existed in Santa Cruz County, California, during the early 1900s: a poor farm.
And no, the word poor did not describe agricultural ineptitude -- rather, it was a place for the homeless to live and work on a farm. [Click once or twice to make the plaque readable.] Rio Vista Farm was not run by a charitable organization but rather by a successful farmer, his wife, and his daughter. Unfortunately the Rio Visto Farm model would not work these days because farm land is so valuable -- as farmland or as potential sub-divisions.
Spent roughly an hour driving around Horizon City. It's a bit like a checkerboard, with spots of new development, most not more than 10-15 years old, as well as fairly large blocks of undeveloped desert wasteland.
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And I had a burger and fries at the Burger King at the junction of Horizon and N. Avenado? Ave because they advertised free WiFi on their sign. [Take that, McDonald's!] Did recall that Bowling Green Street was next to Lot #1. But all searches on both Mapquest & Google Maps led to the conclusion that Bowling Green Street no longer exists -- except in the tax assesor's records.
Another possibility suggested by the Siesta RV Park owner in Las Cruces, NM, was that the steet was renamed. As you can see from the 2d Horizon City photo, there is some development along at least 3 of the roads: Horizon Blvd, Darrington Ave, & Avendo Ave.
I took the 2 above shots from the driveway to some townhouses; what you see to the rigtht is the driveway to those townhouses. Not exactly low-rent as were some of the house I saw while drivig around. And there were some houses which might fit on any new gold course in Califoria.
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One other thing which leads me to believe that the 5 lots are not worth much is my late brother Warren heard from more real estate agents than I have; but that was from 2005-2007 -- at and just past the peaks of both the real estate and stock market bubbles. If the property has some real worth, I'd be hearing from at least a few of them looking to make a commission.
M 21 Feb - Las Cruces Shopping: Big Lots, Albertsons, & Walmart
T 22 Feb Route: Las Cruces - Deming
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