Deming

In the late 1800s Deming was considered such a wild, out-of-control place that Arizona outlaws were sent here (with one-way stage tickets) as punishment. A stop on the Butterfield Stage Trail, Deming received an economic boost when the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway met up with the Southern Pacific line here in 1881. Far from the Wild West town it once was, farming and small industry are now the main sources of income for the town's roughly 15,000 residents. The historic buildings in the downtown area are nicely preserved and mostly still in use.