Ghost Towns in New Mexico
20 documented ghost towns
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Explore the ghost towns of New Mexico.
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Cerrillos
Cerrillos sits atop America's oldest mining district—Native Americans mined turquoise here starting around 900 AD. By the 1880s, it had 21 saloons and...
Chloride
Chloride boomed on silver chloride deposits in New Mexico's Black Range. At its peak, 3,000 people lived in this remote mountain town. Today, a few ar...
Chloride
Chloride was named for chloride of silver ore. At peak, 3,000 people lived here with a bank, assay office, and typical mining town amenities. Now just...
Colfax
Colfax was a coal mining town on the slopes of Raton Pass, the historic gateway between the plains and the Southwest. The county is named for Schuyler...
Dawson
Dawson was a thriving coal company town that suffered two major mining disasters - in 1913 (263 dead) and 1923 (123 dead). The vast cemetery with its ...
Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown ('E-Town') was New Mexico's first incorporated town, growing to 7,000 after gold was discovered in 1866. At peak, it had the territory's...
Glenrio
Glenrio straddled the Texas-New Mexico border on Route 66—with cafes and gas stations on both sides. When I-40 bypassed the town in 1975, Glenrio died...
Hagan
Hagan was a coal mining town that served Albuquerque's needs. When the mines closed, the town was abandoned. In the 1970s, filmmakers discovered the p...
Kelly
Kelly was New Mexico's most productive lead-zinc mining district. At its peak, 3,000 people worked the mines. The headframe of the Kelly Mine still st...
Kelly
Kelly was a lead-zinc-silver mining town in the Magdalena Mountains. At 3,000 people, it was one of New Mexico's larger mining communities. The Graphi...
Lake Valley
Lake Valley's silver mines produced 2.5 million ounces. The Bridal Chamber was one of America's richest silver deposits. The BLM now maintains the tow...
Lake Valley
Lake Valley's 'Bridal Chamber' mine contained silver so pure you could break it off the walls. A single piece displayed at the 1882 Denver Exposition ...
Lincoln
Lincoln was the site of the Lincoln County War, the bloody feud that made Billy the Kid famous. The courthouse where he escaped through murder and the...
Madrid
Madrid was a coal mining company town famous for Christmas light displays so spectacular that airlines rerouted flights. When coal demand fell in the ...
Mogollon
Mogollon sits at the end of a winding mountain road, one of the most remote towns in New Mexico. At its peak, 2,000 people mined gold and silver here....
Mogollon
Mogollon was one of the 'wildest mining towns in the West', producing 18 million ounces of silver (25% of New Mexico's total). Devastating fires hit i...
Shakespeare
Shakespeare is one of the most authentic Wild West ghost towns - unchanged since abandonment. Private tours available on select weekends....
Shakespeare
Shakespeare started as a Butterfield Stage stop (Mexican Springs). It was renamed four times as fortunes changed. Billy the Kid allegedly washed dishe...
Steins
Steins was a railroad town on the Southern Pacific that had everything: a hotel, saloons, and train robbers. It survived until 1944 when the railroad ...
White Oaks
White Oaks was one of New Mexico's richest gold towns—until residents reportedly refused the railroad's demand to close their saloons. The railroad bu...