Madrid

New Mexico · United States · Cemetery

A coal town from the 1800s to the 1940s, then completely abandoned. In the seventies artists and drifters moved in and rebuilt it, and it is alive again.

Madrid, New Mexico mined coal from the 1800s until the 1940s and then emptied out entirely. The company owned everything and when the mines closed the town was left standing and empty.

In the 1970s artists, drifters and people looking for somewhere cheap moved into the abandoned houses and began putting them back together. It is a working town again.

The whole place has a reputation, and the accounts concentrate in particular houses, the old miners' and town cemetery, and the old company buildings.

Madrid mined anthracite and bituminous coal from the same field, which is unusual, and it was known across the southwest for its Christmas lights, powered by company electricity and visible from the air.

Mining killed men here as it did everywhere.

The town is on the Turquoise Trail between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and is very much open.

FAQ

Where is Madrid located?

Madrid is in New Mexico, United States.