Old Berino Cemetery
Survey #1
Berino, Dona Ana County, New Mexico 
Compiled 28 March 2003 by
Marcena Thompson and Mary Jane Roitaille
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Exit off I-10 at Vado, go west, at 478 turn left, turn left at Berino. Cemetery is at the corner of Thompson and Berino left side. The cemetery is over 100 years old. There were 26 unmarked graves.

Background: Berino: a small settlement on NM 226, one mile east of NM 478, and 19 miles south of Las Cruces. An old Hispanic settlement which means "ford," and its located near the east bank of the Rio Grande. A sister settlement is across the river and is also named Berino. The name may also be related to "merino," a breed of sheep. Reportedly, the settlement was once called Cottonwoods. The location of the settlement has shifted over time to the old RR siding of Bernino.  (Based on Robert Julyan The Place Names of New Mexico.)

Background: This small agricultural community was originally known as Cottonwood and was on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. The settlement is located twenty miles south southeast of Las Cruces near the east bank of the Rio Grande. Berino is said to be an Indian word that means ford. The Berino Post Office was established on September 3, 1902. Aurilla Tadlock was the first postmaster and received the mail daily from the Railway Post Office (RPO) car on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. 
F. G. Houck was selected to succeed Aurilla on December 26, 1905. He decided to decline the UN offer and Aurilla remained in the office. Carl Price became the fourth postmaster on March 30, 1908. Car remained in the position for nine years. He was relieved by James Kilgore on June 22, 1917. James served the small community for over eleven years and was replaced by Samuel Kilgore on November 17, 1928. In the 1930s a Star Route (Highway Contract Route) was established from Las Cruces to Canutillo, Texas, to provide mail to post of f ices on both sides of the Rio Grande. This route supplemented the RPO service in Berino. 
In 1940, the Berino Post Office was serving a community with about 300 residents. Postmaster Kilgore retired on September 1, 1954, after twenty-six years in the office. He transferred the office to Millie Milligan as his replacement. In August of 1965 the RPO service ended and all the mail for Berino was dispatched on the Highway Contract Route out of the Las Cruces Post office. 
Magdalena Acosta was placed in the office as the acting postmaster when Millie vacated the position on July 15, 1966. The Post Office Department decided to not appoint another postmaster and to close the office. On December 2, 1966, the office was discontinued and became a Rural Branch of the Anthony Post Office.
From: The History of Dona Ana County Post Offices Copyright 1997 by James W. White. See our Post Office History section.