Museum & Courthouse-Jail
Black Range Museum
The Black Range Museum is one of southern New Mexico’s many interesting historic sites. Find our unique Museum in a historic adobe building , part of which was built before 1883 for the Hillsboro Hydraulic Mining Company. By 1900 the building’s use changed; the famous madam Sadie Orchard had her first hotel in this structure. Her Chinese cook, Tom Ying, joined her and came to be part owner until Sadie’s death in 1943. Tom was the sole steward and restaurant owner from then until his death in 1959.
Originally held by private owners, the Black Range Museum has been in operation since 1961. Because the building was deteriorating and the artifacts were inadequately maintained, the Hillsboro Historical Society bought the property in 2016. The old building was significantly restructured and remodeled to reopen on August 31, 2019.
The remodeled space includes themed rooms. The first are dedicated to Tom Ying. His belongings formed the core for the museum that owner Lydia Key opened there about a year after his death. The Museum Gift Shop, was once Tom Ying’s restaurant’s dining room. The first exhibit room is his kitchen. This has always been the main attraction and the fascinating collection continues as a highlight today.
The adjacent room is dedicated to the other famous person associated with our building, Sadie Orchard. Along with a collection of her personal items, we also highlight prominent persons representative of the law of her time (with which she had numerous interactions). We display a small selection of artifacts concerning Nicholas Galles, the legislator who created Sierra County, Thomas Murphy, first sheriff of the county, Francisco Bojórquez, the beloved and famous cowboy-sheriff of the early 1900’s, and lawyer Edward Tittmann, who fought to prevent Hillsboro losing the county seat and the beautiful courthouse.
Other rooms include a ranch room which in its first display highlights the Ladder Ranch, our Medical Room, and Mining Room. The last is our Archeology room which highlights Indigenous people ranging from Mimbres civilization to the later Warm Springs Apache, including the famous Nana.
Find our historic adobe Black Range Museum at 3 Carro Lane, Hillsboro, NM. The Museum is on Main Street close to the intersection of New Mexico scenic Highways 152 and 27.
Hours for the Museum and Gift Shop are Friday 12-3, Saturday 10-3, and Sunday from 12-3. We hope you will visit us soon!
The transformation of our adobe museum building:
Courthouse-Jail Site
When the New Mexico territorial legislature created Sierra County in 1884, Hillsboro was named the county seat. A beautiful and inspiring three-story red-brick courthouse was finally completed overlooking the town in 1892. In 1906 a secure stone jailhouse was added behind the courthouse.
A bid to move the county seat to Hot Springs (now named Truth or Consequences) was approved by county voters in 1936. After a two-year battle in the courts to overturn this vote proved unsuccessful, the beautiful old courthouse was sold and dismantling of the building began in 1939.
Special donations enabled the HHS to purchase the ruins of the historic old courthouse and jail in 2019.
Current photos:
