Once the second-largest city in the state, White Oaks is just a ghost of what it was before residents tried to charge the railroad for right-of-way (and lost) and the gold mines petered out. One of the surviving gems is the finest example of an eastern-influenced, brick four-room school house left in New Mexico today. State-owned, and maintained by the local historical society, the whole structure is much the way it was when it was built in the late 1890s. There’s a small museum on the second floor documenting the past and many of the families that went to school here. Annual events: Artists of White Oaks Studio Tour mid-April; Gold Rush Days Memorial Day Weekend; Art, Antique & Collectibles Auction Sep or Oct. Location: 12 miles northeast of Carrizozo via U.S. 54 and N.M. 349. Hours: 10-4 Sat & Sun Memorial Day-Labor Day. Costs: $2 per person or $5 per family