Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Organ, NM

Organ is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Doña Ana County, at the southwestern foothills of the San Agustin Mountains.

A mining camp existed at the site before the Civil War, and the town was formally established in 1883, when President Chester A. Arthur granted a 40-acre townsite to the Organ Mining Corporation by federal land grant.

The 1883 grant prohibited mining within the townsite itself; the surrounding mines produced gold, lead, iron, and silver, with the Torpedo Mine the largest producer.

By 1885 Organ's population exceeded 1,500, and the town had its own school, constable's office, community center, town square, post office, hotel, business district, and cemetery, along with two smelting furnaces and an assay office.

The mines flooded in the 1930s, and mining in the area ended during the Great Depression.

Organ revived after 1945 with the growth of nearby White Sands Missile Range, housing military personnel and contractors.

The community has never incorporated; under the terms of the 1883 presidential order, it is governed directly by Doña Ana County and the county probate judge.

In 1999 Organ was recognized as a Traditional Historic Community under New Mexico House Bill 523, a designation that protects it from annexation by any municipality.

Organ still runs its own water and sewer utility; its community center, improved in 2008, stands on the land of the original town square, and the Slumbering Mountain Cemetery remains in use.

The 2020 census counted 242 residents in Organ, down from 323 residents in the 2010 census.