Jal Historical Society & Museum

Jal Historical Society & Museum This page has been created to share the history and lore of Jal, New Mexico.

Sad news as we learn of the death of singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dolly Parton. Our co...
08/25/2026

Sad news as we learn of the death of singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dolly Parton. Our condolences go out to her family, friends and many fans worldwide.

Jal has a very indirect connection to this amazing woman through a 1982 musical comedy that she starred in alongside Burt Reynolds.
The writer of the stage play "The Best Little Wh******se in Texas", on which the movie was based, once lived in Jal. Larry L. King attended Jal High School and played on the 1945 JHS football team before his family moved to Midland, TX. He went on to serve in the military and become a political speech writer before producing fourteen books of both fiction and non-fiction as well as numerous magazine articles. His writing won numerous awards, and we are proud to say that Mr. King was a member of Jal Historical Society and shared a number of his signed books and plays, including a copy of this particular play, before his death in 2012.

We lament the loss of such creative souls and treasure the connections--no matter how remote--that we share with them....

The grand opening of the new City of Jal Fire and EMS building. An outstanding facility!
08/13/2026

The grand opening of the new City of Jal Fire and EMS building. An outstanding facility!

08/04/2026

Had just a few minutes to stop in and look at the new blue and gold track and other improvements at the football stadium. Lots going on at Jal schools!

Old and new: the new City of Jal Fire and Emergency Medical Services building sits next door to the old ambulance barn. ...
08/01/2026

Old and new: the new City of Jal Fire and Emergency Medical Services building sits next door to the old ambulance barn. To the far left is the old fire station. I’ll post more about the history of Jal’s Fire and EMS history in another post.

An interesting new acquisition for the Museum’s collection. This Elliott Adresserette was found at the old Boy Scout hu...
07/29/2026

An interesting new acquisition for the Museum’s collection. This Elliott Adresserette was found at the old Boy Scout hut just east of Jal General Camp (near where the EPNG softball field was located). It dates from the mid 1940’s to the early 1950’s. As you can see from the instruction sheet found online, it was a small mimeograph style printing press used to make various sizes of address labels. It needs a great amount of cleaning in order to make it suitable for display but it’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to make it operable. If any of you have any memories of this machine and how it was used, please let us know in the comments.

Occasionally, when we get a donation, we find a treasure within a treasure. That was the case with a recent donation fr...
07/25/2026

Occasionally, when we get a donation, we find a treasure within a treasure. That was the case with a recent donation from Goose Armstrong. He gave us, among other things, several yearbooks. Stapled to one of the opening pages of the 1961 Panther was a letter—or at least a copy of a letter— signed by then President John F. Kennedy’s personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. The letter was addressed to Jal School Superintendent Dr. J.L. Burke, Jr., thanking him for sending President Kennedy a copy of the yearbook. While I’m sure that the letter is a copy (and, unfortunately, didn’t scan well) we can only hope that the original rests somewhere along with Dr. Burke’s other papers and memorabilia!

As is obvious from this letter, Dr. Burke was a major force in building and promoting Jal’s schools. He oversaw the construction of numerous buildings and programs that made Jal’s educational facilities the envy of the region and was also actively involved in the development of the town itself.

More red, white and blue! Although we weren’t able to get flags out on Memorial Day (due to supply problems and health ...
07/04/2026

More red, white and blue! Although we weren’t able to get flags out on Memorial Day (due to supply problems and health problems), we did get them out in time for Independence Day. We’re proud of all those who have served—both past and present—to keep our country free. We want to thank our volunteer “Flag Corps” who helped place flags at both Jal and Cooper cemeteries. Thanks to Wes Hooper, Corey Saffell and Luke Guinn, we were able to place 163 flags in about one and a half hours. The first time Karen and I did it by ourselves, it took the better part of two days as we looked for veterans’ graves and drove holes in hard ground to place the flags. In the years since, Karen has created a list of veterans and Jal Historical Society & Museum purchased stakes to hold the flags, making the whole process much easier. Thanks also to Chuck Miller and the City of Jal for supplying the flags.

Happy Independence Day, as we celebrate the red, white and blue through the years!
07/04/2026

Happy Independence Day, as we celebrate the red, white and blue through the years!

On this Memorial Day, 2026, remembering three deceased soldiers from Jal who lost their lives during the Vietnam war.
05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, 2026, remembering three deceased soldiers from Jal who lost their lives during the Vietnam war.

Update: Thanks to all those who have offered to help! New flags are scheduled to be in Tuesday and we’ll get them up AS...
05/24/2026

Update: Thanks to all those who have offered to help! New flags are scheduled to be in Tuesday and we’ll get them up ASAP. In the meantime, we do have flags on each Veteran’s grave.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Jal Historical Society will not be able to put on a Memorial Day program this year or put new flags on Veteran’s graves. We urge you, on this holiday weekend, to honor those who gave their lives for their country.

Address

100 North Third Street
Jal, NM
88252

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