At the end of the 19th century, townspeople freed the community from domination by the Matador Ranch, which was liquidated in 1951, by relocating nonranch families there and electing their own slate of officials.

On June 21, 2023, the town was severely damaged by a powerful, high-end EF3 tornado, causing four deaths and ten injuries.

[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all of it land.

For a rural area, the hotel had luxurious rooms with a bell hop, a full-time gardener, and laundry service.

It later became a single residence, but had been abandoned for five years when three sisters took possession and began reclaiming and restoring the historic facility.

The sisters, Marilyn Hicks, Linda Roy, and Caron Perkins, operate the Matador as an eight-unit bed and breakfast.

The barber shop was converted to the Circle Cross Heritage suite, with the original tin ceiling and elaborate bathroom fixtures.

[17] Albert Carroll Traweek, Sr., (1875–1959) was a physician in Matador, originally from Fort Worth, known as the "pneumonia doctor" for his success in treating patients with that sometimes fatal illness.

The house was last occupied by their youngest son, Howard Traweek (1912–1988), the county attorney for five decades, and his wife, the former Eleanor Mitchell (1922–1998).

Originally a service-station attendant, he opened his own Conoco gasoline business, which he topped with a decorative wooden oil derrick.

[19] Robertson advertised his business in unusual ways, having maintained a cage of live rattlesnakes for the amusement of tourists.

He paid long-distance truckers to place advertising signs at strategic points across the United States.

Matador is equidistant from Dallas and Carlsbad, New Mexico, and 9 miles (14 km) closer to Denver than to El Paso.

He was also a Matador civic leader who sought to recognize returning veterans from World War II.

At the intersection of U.S. Route 70 and State Highway 70, the site serves as a reminder of a time when bold roadside architecture was only beginning, and of a man who promoted his adopted hometown in extraordinary ways.