Pat Veltri writes, “anyone who reads or researches the history of New Mexico can’t help but chance on the bright sunflower yellow booklets imprinted with a red zia symbol and typeface – the simple cover design that characterized the works of F. Stanley, a Catholic priest, teacher, author and historian. Around 1960 he began publishing these ‘place booklets’, a paper bound series, each ranging in length from eighteen to twenty-six pages long, dealing with the history of obscure hamlets, villages or ghost towns.” Here are some of the works by Father Stanley, and the sites associated with them:
(1961) The Elizabethtown Story
Elizabethtown is a three-hour drive from Albuquerque, located near Red River. According to Legends of America, “Elizabethtown, New Mexico, a ghost town in Colfax County, was once a bustling mining camp that was New Mexico’s first incorporated town. Rich in history and once full of life with over 7,000 residents.” The photographs below are from a trip I took in 2020.
(1961) The Whiteoaks Story
(1961) The Fort Fillmore Story & (1961) The Fort Conrad Story
(1962) The Chloride Story & (1962) The Fairview Story
(1962) The La Belle Story
La Belle is a three-hour drive from Albuquerque, located near Red River. According to Western Mining History, “Although mineral deposits in the area had been discovered several decades prior, it wasn’t until 1894 that there was any attempt to start mining. That year there was an excitement that resulted in the town of La Belle being hastily built, reportedly having 80 buildings by the end of the year, including three saloons, a hotel, a restaurant, among other businesses. For the five years or so that La Belle was a viable town, it is said to have been a wild place for its size, with many saloons and a red light district. Notorious outlaw Black Jack Ketchum spent time in La Belle prior to being captured in 1899, and later hung.” Bob Wick’s website Ghost Town photography states, “There may not be much to see at the townsite of LaBelle, but the spectacular scenery make the trip worthwhile.”
(1962) The Folsom Story
Folsom is a four-hour drive from Albuquerque, located near Raton. According to Legends of America, “Now a semi-ghost town, Folsom is a pleasant ranching community, called home to about 60 people and several historic buildings. The old 1888 railroad station was moved from the right-of-way around 1970 and is now used as a storage building. Next to it, on the corner, is the old Texaco gas station, built sometime before 1946. Across the street is the Doherty Mercantile building, which became the Folsom Museum in 1966. The abandoned stone two-story Folsom Hotel still stands on the south side of Main Street, along with several false-front stores.”
(1962) The Deming Story
(1962) The Wallace Story
(1963) The Georgetown Story
(1963) The Alamogordo Story
(1963) The Montezuma Story
(1963) The Tesuque Story
(1964) The Hillsboro Story
(1964) The Golden Story & (1964) The Cerrillos Story
(1964) The Bernalillo Story
(1964) The Lake Valley Story
(1964) The Dawson Tragedies
(1965) The Melrose Story
(1965) The Gardiner Story
(1965) The Grier Story
(1965) The Glorieta Story
(1965) The Pojoaque Story
(1965) The Galiesto Story
(1965) The Hermosa Story
(1966) The Bethel Story
(1966) The St Vrain Story
(1966) The Abo Story
(1966) The Clovis Story
(1966) The Carbonateville Story
(1966) The Causey Story
(1966) The Nambe Story
(1966) The Elida Story
(1966) The Kenna Story
(1966) The Columbus Story
(1967) The Floyd Story
(1967) The Inez Story
(1967) The Rogers Story
(1967) The Tolar Story
According to this news article, “Nearly every building in he small town of Tolar, which was located along U.S. Highway 60/84 between Clovis and Ft. Sumner, was leveled when a World War II supply train hauling bombs derailed and exploded. At noon on November 30, 1944, a World War II supply train hauling 165 five-hundred-pound bombs headed for the Pacific Theater derailed in Tolar. The train caught fire and the bombs exploded. The blast, which leveled nearly every building in town, could be heard 60 miles away. It vaporized 500 feet of track and sent a 1,500-pound axle crashing through a store and rolling out the back.”
(1967) The Dora Story
(1968) The Fort Tulerosa Story
(1968) The Tatum Story
(1972) The Liberty Story
(1973) The San Antonio Story
(1973) The Eagle Nest Story
(1973) The Grafton Story
According to the website “Ghost Towns” – nothing remains of these towns:
(1964) The Yankee Story
(1967) The Arch Story