Hammond-Brown Oil Well Site

Historical marker location:

US 285, Dayton, New Mexico

( at Dayton rest area)

An artesian well drilled about one and a half miles from here in 1909 showed signs of oil. After the water was cased off, the Hammond-Brown Well produced 25-50 barrels of oil a day until it was plugged in 1932. The potential of this discovery kept speculators interested in Artesia’s oil field until 1924, when the Illinois #3 came in and sparked the oil boom.