The Streets of Carlsbad - Tracy Place

Francis Gallatin Tracy, Sr.

Recruited by his uncle, Joseph Stevens, Francis Gallatin Tracy, Sr. came west to inspect and invest in the irrigation venture. Mr. Tracy returned to New York; however, he was so impressed he sold his holdings on Long Island and returned to Eddy. He remained to manage Mr. Steven’s and his own investments.

Mr. Tracy was twenty-six when he came to Eddy from New York in 1890 with $163 and two collie dogs. He went to work for the Pecos Valley Town Company for $75 a month, investing most of his earnings in lots in the town and in his farm.  The early agricultural boom collapsed when the entire United States was hit by the Panic of 1893. The same year the Pecos River flooded and destroyed part of the irrigation ditches, tore out railroad tracks, and washed out the Rock and Hagerman Dams. A few pioneer farmers decided to “pull up stakes” and moved away. Mr. Tracy was determined to stay and be successful.

After the flood and economic downturn, Francis G. Tracy supervised preparation for building a new concrete flume across the river. The concrete flume was built by the Witt Brothers and finished in 1903. This flume was "one of the largest of its kind in the world."

The irrigation system was barely back in operation when the river flooded again in 1904. In desperation, the development company’s officers negotiated a sale to the United State Bureau of Reclamation in 1905 for $150,000 or about ten cents for each original investment dollar. In 1907 with Bureau money, the irrigation of 30,000 acres using 145 miles of ditches was completed. Francis G. Tracy was largely responsible for the successful reorganization and completion of the reconstruction.

New construction brought jobs and helped the economy. When the project was completed, farmers were able to increase alfalfa acreage dramatically. The Carlsbad Irrigation Co. was the first in the United States to pay back its debt to the Bureau of Reclamation and return to local ownership. Francis Tracy was largely responsible for this effort. The irrigation system was the largest built by private enterprise, and declared a National Landmark in 1973.

A hard freeze in 1906 killed most of the fruit trees and ended growing fruit as an agricultural industry in the Pecos Valley. Francis G. Tracy and C. H. McLenathen, the leading farmers of the area, found with irrigation cotton could be grown profitably. Cotton became the county’s major cash crop, grossing a half million dollars in 1908. Mr. Tracy was a life-long civic and community leader and continued to be of influence until his death in January of 1951. His descendants still reside in Carlsbad and continue his civic work.