The gold mining ghost towns of the US
New Mexico, US – Outside Tony’s Rock Shop in the sleepy town of Magdalena, in New Mexico, Ben Valentino Otero stands amid a menagerie of animal statues, two wooden eagles, a merry-go-round horse, a metal sphinx and a variety of obscure rocks. “Which is your favourite?” asks Ben, an avid rock collector and descendant of miners who once worked the hills above town. His shop, one of the few remaining in Magdalena, is a kind of museum to the nearby mountains and the men who mined them.
The ghosts of New Mexico’s abandoned mining towns
New Mexico, US – During the mining boom of the 19th century in New Mexico, thousands migrated to remote parts of the state, establishing towns to exploit the region’s rich mineral wealth.
By the late 1800s and early 1900s communities such as Kelly, Dawson, Madrid, Pinos Altos, Golden and Hanover/Fierro proliferated throughout the state, providing the silver, gold, lead, coal and zinc that helped to fuel the industrial western expansion taking place in America. These boom towns, composed of a diverse mix of foreigners, would fundamentally change the demographic character of the state, arising from the dust and often abandoned in equal haste.