"Artesia" is the town's third name. The first name was "Miller", which came from a
railroad employee. For a brief time Artesia was known as "Stegman" after the first postmistress, none other
than Sallie Chisum Robert Stegman. Sallie dropped the "Stegman" from her name soon after her divorce,
and with the discovery of artesian wells in the area the fledgling town was renamed "Artesia" in 1903 and
officially incorporated in 1905. |