Cambray

Sitting in eastern Luna County, New Mexico at 4,219 feet, Cambray began its life as a water stop serving the Southern Pacific Railroad — a practical necessity in the arid landscape near the Doña Ana county line, just one mile to the east. As automobile travel expanded, the spot found a second purpose as a stop along U.S. Routes 70 and 80, giving it brief relevance to cross-country travelers.

That relevance didn't last. A 1956 highway realignment rerouted traffic away from the community, and Cambray gradually emptied out, eventually earning its status as a ghost town. Today visitors encounter the quiet remnants of a place that outlived two eras of transportation only to be undone by a change on a map.