Town file
Eunice, New Mexico
Eunice, New Mexico (Lea County, New Mexico) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 136, "Unearthing Some Secrets" (12 September 2019). Eunice, New Mexico, sits in the far south-eastern corner of the state, close to the Texas Panhandle, in Lea County.
- Town
- Eunice
- County
- Lea County
- State
- New Mexico
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 136
- Approximate location
- 32.436, -103.149
Episode 136 / 12 September 2019 / 130 min / full
Unearthing Some Secrets
"This here is Eunice, New Mexico, E-U-N-I-C-E... far southeastern New Mexico, way down in the corner... It's in Leah County or Lee County, L-E-A, I don't know, County." about 0:06:15
The case: Murder of Stella Kayleen Motes (June 1993). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2019
- Population
- 3,065
- Median age
- 32.8
- Median household income
- $61,600
- Median home value
- $104,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $942 a month
- Cost of living
- 79
- Religious
- 56.7%
- Property crime
- ▼ about 10% under the normal
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half the average, maybe a little over half
History, in brief
- In 1908 J.N. Carson came to set up a homestead which later became the town, and he named it for his eldest daughter Eunice, born in 1895. about 0:09:38
- In the spring of 1909 Carson built a store and a post office there, and people began to settle once the town had somewhere to buy goods and post a letter. about 0:09:55
- The settlers built a one-room schoolhouse which had 23 children in its first year and also served as a Sunday school and church. about 0:10:32
- There were no paved roads, but people kept coming after an oil field opened nearby. about 0:12:33
- The first oil well in the area was drilled in 1926, and the first producing well came in 1928. about 0:13:02
- The town website claims the population shot up to 5,500 in the mid-1930s, which James says is false. about 0:13:30
- The town website claims that in 1937 Main Street had 27 cafes. about 0:14:06
- The 1930 U.S. census showed 313 people, and about another 1,000 arrived to work the oil fields, not the 5,000 the website implies. about 0:14:20
- After the Second World War the fuel industry boomed, and by the 1960 U.S. census there were 3,500 people in Eunice. about 0:14:50
- In the 1960s the closure of carbon black plants cut the population. about 0:14:58
- In the 2000s Urenco, the USA Uranium Enrichment Plant, opened near the town and was completed in 2006. about 0:15:18
- The area is known as Nuclear Alley and also has a waste isolation pilot plant and Waste Control Specialists. about 0:16:39
- Eunice High School's baseball team has won 17 state championships, the fifth most state championships for a high school baseball team in the country. about 0:19:45
The reviews read out
2 stars
"Living in Hobbs was rough, the economy relies solely on the oil field, the only things kids are interested in are drugs and partying, the writer lived there for 18 years and was happy to leave, and although the town is growing it is not a place the writer would feel safe or happy to live."about 0:20:22
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Odessa, Texas61 miles
- Roswell, New Mexico103 miles
- Hondo, New Mexico139 miles
- Dimmitt, Texas154 miles
- Fort Sumner, New Mexico155 miles
- Panhandle, Texas225 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.