NMSU history: Fire destroyed 1st college building
The surging fire cast ghostly silhouettes against the tall brick walls of the agricultural college's newest buildings as the acrid smell of burning wood and smoke filled the night air.
Students and faculty of the small school, who just moments earlier were enjoying dinner in the nearby YMCA building, stared in wonder at the inferno before them.
With no fire department in the area to speak of, and having salvaged what they could before the smoke inside got too thick, all they could do now was watch as the biggest fire any of them had ever seen consumed the building they all called "Old Main."
"It was a striking scene and a hot fire," reported the student newspaper The Round Up three days later on Sept. 15, 1910. "People in large numbers from the community and adjacent towns gathered during the fire to watch the passing of the oldest college edifice. By 9:30 p.m. nothing remained but sections of the toppling walls."
And just like that, McFie Hall, the first building constructed on the campus of New Mexico State University, was history.
Today, the cornerstone sits solidly in the middle of the Horseshoe, a remnant of the earliest years of New Mexico State University.
First day of class
The New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts opened in January 1890, first using a two-room adobe in Las Cruces and later houses in Mesilla Park while McFie Hall was built.
Old Main wasn't the oldest building on campus. That honor belonged to the L-shaped adobe called the Seed House, built around 1888 by previous landowner Jacob Schaublin, who deeded large parcels of land to the college. It still stands just to the southwest of the new convention center.
For the important construction job, the new college's regents, led by the first chairman and local judge John McFie, chose building architect George E. King and contractor J.R. Bogardus, who reportedly helped build other campus structures.
The Las Cruces Masonic Lodge, of which most of the first regents were members, performed an elaborate cornerstone laying ceremony on Sept. 9, 1890 - Old Main would burn 20 years later on Sept. 12.
New Mexico Gov. Bradford Prince came down from Santa Fe, and he and Col. Albert Fountain spoke before an estimated crowd of 3,000 people. Watching with pride was the first president, Hiram Hadley, and his co-founders, McFie, William Rynerson and Numa Reymond.
Restoring Old Hardwood Floors - News
Old Main housed classrooms, labs, offices and a 20000-book library and reading room, where clubs met and where students produced the New Mexico Territory's first college newspaper. The abundance of dark, heavily oiled wood floors, stairs and fixtures
A: Reclaimed wood is more than flooring, in my view; it is an art form that pays homage to our heritage. Reclaiming wood refers to salvaging the wooden remains of deconstruction sites such as historical homes, old buildings, mills, warehouse or barns.
More than four feet of water covered the house's main floor this year. In its nomination to the national register, the house was noted for its woodwork on the main floor. The Carrs hope to save as much of the woodwork and hardwood floor as possible.

But its biggest assets are long-standing businesses, some more than 30 years old, and a large number of robust and committed volunteers in its neighborhoods who care and dig in to run programs and restore neighborhoods.
“Definitely the kitchen and bathrooms, we'll take some of the wood, we'll try and rescue the hardwood floors,” she said, noting that people love to buy old hardwood. She added that the windows and doors are in good shape, and some of the interior
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