Mesilla Book Center

Mesilla Book Center has occupied its adobe home on the historic Mesilla Plaza since 1982, standing on ground that has been a crossroads of cultures for centuries. The plaza was once the site where the Gadsden Purchase was signed, and the store carries that sense of deep history in every corner. Its borderlands literature collection is among the finest in the Southwest, with works spanning both sides of the nearby U.S.-Mexico border in English and Spanish. The rare books alcove features early accounts of the Camino Real trading route and first-edition Pat Garrett memoirs. Owner Jorge Castillo is a walking encyclopedia of southern New Mexico history and personally guides customers through the store's remarkable holdings on everything from Pancho Villa to White Sands Missile Range.