What is a ghost town?

This is the hardest question of all. The dictionary definition of a ghost town is a place that has been permanently abandoned by its inhabitants. That definition rules out close to 90% of the places on this homepage. The definition favored by Philip Varney in his book "New Mexico's Best Ghost Towns" is a place "whose initial reason for settlement no longer keeps people in the community." But under this definition, places like Chloride and Madrid would forever be known as ghost towns, regardless of the fact that they are now active communities. In places like Hillsboro, you must make a real effort to find the abandoned buildings, and there's just not a way to take a picture of the old jail there without getting a satellite dish in the background.

The fact that a community can rise and decline several times makes an all-encompassing definition elusive. Still, I'll take a shot. To be a ghost town, the following criteria should be met:

1) The town was established for a specific reason or purpose, or around a specific operation. That is, it may have been a mining town, or a railroad town, or have grown from a collection of ranches in the area.

2) The town had an initial boom.

3) The boom was followed at some point by a decline in population and services brought about by a change in whatever brought people there in the first place. For example, a mine was closed, or a lake ran dry, or the railroad was rerouted to another location.

4) The number of uninhabitable buildings, foundations or remains currently existing in the town should be greater than the number of inhabited buildings. That is, there should be more people not living in the town than living in the town. Er...yeah, that's right. I think.

I also think we should agree that except in cases where the settlement just doesn't exist anymore, or is in ruins, the term "ghost town" can and should be considered a temporary state of affairs. Once the ratio outlined in #4 above flips in favor of the latter, the term no longer applies.

Are all the ghost towns in New Mexico on this homepage?

No, not even close. Here's why:

1) I don't have enough room on this server to list them all.

2) I haven't been to them all.

3) Some are too fragile and prone to damage if visited by too many people. They are better left as secrets.

4) Some are on private property.

What is your favorite place in New Mexico?

Yeso, so far. And Roy is probably a close second. Subject to change, though, so stay tuned.

Why the write-ups on each place?

Every place I visit gives me a distinct feeling. Some places spook me; others make me lonely; others make me happy. Interestingly, though the buildings and foundations sometimes look the same, the feeling each place imparts is always unique. In a way, it's like a fingerprint. On this homepage, I try to analyze and break down that feeling - look at the fingerprint under the microscope, so to speak - and hopefully find the correct words to describe it to others. I think giving only pictures and descriptions of a location leaves half the story untold.

I also feel I'm doing a disservice to a place and to the homepage if I just relate facts and figures. If I were describing a friend, I'd include things like "she has a good sense of humor" or "he really likes photography" along with the stats, so I feel it's important I do the same for places as well.

What are you talking about?

Sometimes I'm not sure myself. Some places give me very distinct feelings that are easy to describe, like Bernardo or Weed. Others, like Chloride or Trementina leave hazier impressions, which I have to struggle to describe. That may make them a struggle to read, too, so I won't be upset if you skip them.