The name of the town is derived from the Spanish vernacular for reed grass (Carrizo), which grew significantly in the area and provided excellent feed for ranch cattle.

[8][9] The location of Carrizozo was selected as the site for a station on the El Paso and Northeastern Railway (EP&NE) main line in 1899.

[7] This decision resulted in a four-year legal battle that was eventually resolved in favor of Carrizozo by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Gray v.

[11] The result was a boom in which railroad access and political importance combined to lead to significant population growth in Carrizozo.

Senator from New Mexico and later Secretary of the Interior, owned the Three Rivers Ranch just south of Carrizozo, but had to sell it to settle legal debts as a result of his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal (1922–1923).

Later, he wrote in The Wounded Don't Cry that "I used to agree with Bugs that once you left New York, you were strictly on the horse and buggy circuit.

Residents reported tremors like an earthquake and, as the first major downwind settlement, the town received a significant part of the remnants of the mushroom cloud resulting in nuclear fallout of the area, which caused radioactive contamination.

[14][page needed] Bonito Lake which also lies within the estimated radioactive fallout zone of the 1945 Trinity test, was a water source for Carrizozo.

[7] The result was a decrease in economic opportunity in Carrizozo, and the population fell back to about 1,200 people for much of the end of the 20th century.

[17][18] To the west of the town is the Carrizozo Malpais, a 40-mile-long (64 km) lava flow that is about 1,500 years old and accessible through the Valley of Fires Recreation Area.