New Mexico Office of the State Historian : Lea County

Lea County

Lea County is located on the southeast corner of New Mexico and the county seat is Lovington. The county was created in 1917 from Chaves and Eddy Counties and named for Captain Joseph Calloway Lea. The political struggle that led to Lea County’s creation was long, complex, and often bitter. In 1912, Robert Florence Love proposed creating a new county to be called Heard County to honor Allen C. Heard, one of the founders of the High Lonesome Ranch and the founder of Knowles. This proposal was defeated. Then in 1917 a bill proposed creating Llano County, named for the Llano Estacado dominating the landscape in southeastern New Mexico. (In committee, House Speaker William H.H. Llewelyn argued against the name, saying nobody would be able to pronounce it correctly, much less spell it.) Chaves County representatives, seeing the inevitable, finally acquiesced but insisted the new county be named to honor Captain Joseph Calloway Lea. Lea, arrived in Roswell in 1877 where he founded the New Mexico Military Academy; he has been called the “Father of Roswell.” Lea was largely responsible for the creation of Chaves County and insisted that it be named for his friend Col. J. Francisco Ch áves, so Chavez County, by insisting the new county be named for Lea, was only reciprocating.

Lea County’s 4,393 square miles of wide open spaces continue to be the base for the county being one of the state’s leading producers of oil and gas. However, ranching, farming and the newer dairy industry also contribute to the economy of the county. Both state and private higher education institutions (New Mexico Junior College and the College of the Southwest) are located in the county.