April 7 New Mexico Ghost Towns - Kelly & Magdalena

Michael and I wanted a quick trip close to home to get into photography before our next European trip.  We chose to drive south to visit ghost and other quaint New Mexico towns.  If you look at the New Mexico tourism website (https://www.newmexico.org/) and scroll down you will see a section on Ghost Towns.  It has a lot of information and directions to each town in New Mexico.  We picked out nine places we wanted to visit, but didn't make it to all of them.  All of the places we visited were started because of the discovery of some metal to mine near them.

From Albuquerque we headed south on I25.  From Socorro, we headed west to Magdalena and Kelly.  Kelly is the actual Ghost town, but unfortunately for us, all of the houses have been moved down the road to Magdalena.  More about that later.  We headed up the gravel road to Kelly.  There is also an abandoned mine associated with Kelly, but my Acura is not at all the right kind of vehicle to drive those washboard gravel roads up to it.  Lead, zinc and silver were discovered in the mountains - and Kelly prospered until the mines all dried up.

                                                                        Note the light colored words in the sign.  Apparently there are two people living in the mobile homes in the field next to the church.  I did not take photos of those buildings.

The only thing left of the original town of Kelly is the church.

All the photos were taken of or near the church.  I was trying black and white as well as color.  So any preferences for either would be appreciated.

Back down the gravel road to the highway back to Magdalena were these ruins.  I believe they are associated with the mining industry.

Then back to Magdalena.  We found some lunch at the cafe on the main intersection.  The guy that was doing everything, taking orders, serving and cooking had photos displayed that he had taken in the area - so it was fun to talk to him.

This is a library.  The words on the window read:  Kind of a Small Array - a play on the "Very Large Array" that is very close to Magdalena.

One of the original mercantile stores with a hand pump in the foreground.

The railroad museum.

This street is not very long and ends at the stock yards.  As I walked down the road taking photos a large white pickup stopped next to me.  Jim, an Army veteran, leaned out to give me some history of Magdalena.  I was also interested in learning about him.  After he retired from the Army, he didn't return to his home elsewhere.  He discovered Magdalena and made it his mission.  He is the self-proclaimed ambassador of Magdalena.  

And then I wandered back towards the stockyards.  This area is also used for rodeos.  

There was some very interesting artwork along the way.

The seating area for the rodeo or other events was very colorful and also looked good in black and white.  There were some repairs made to it, but I don't think I would would feel safe to attend some thing there with a thousand of my best friends all in the bleachers!

The sign is still here - but there was no sigh of an actual village.

This row of buildings has been updated and is in use today.

You won't get lost in Magdalena!

We next headed to the Very Large Array only 60 miles away.  That's for the next post.