Lake Valley Historic Townsite

 place with historical importance, interesting place, ghost town

Lake Valley, NEW MEXICO is one of my favorite ghost towns and is firmly rooted in my TOP TEN ghost towns to visit. It should also be on any ghost towner’s “Bucket List” of ghost towns. With that being said, what’s so special about this place? For starters, it’s not near any urban areas, so vandalism has been minimal. It was occupied until late in its history and after the last resident left in 1994, the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took control of the site. To their credit, the BLM has actually done a great job in keeping it safe and preserved as it was in 1994. The only building actually restored is the school, which serves as the visitor center/museum. Over the years, I and many others have often questioned the “preservation tactics” of the BLM, as they are generally more interested in preserving land - at the expense of any old buildings or other man-made structures. However, in Lake Valley, they have actually done a credible job of preserving the remains of this century-old silver mining town, presenting the community’s history in a quiet, unassuming way. In addition, some of the property is still privately owned, so there are some areas of the town where access will not be granted. Please abide by any posted signs and follow the Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics when you visit.

Lake Valley sits on a curve of New Mexico State Highway (SH) 27 some 42 miles northeast of Deming, deep in the southwestern corner of New Mexico. Like Bodie, CA and Mogollon, NM is a destination ghost town. By that I mean that this is a town to go to, not pass through on the way to somewhere else. Spend some time here, walk the quiet streets. See if you can spot dead chairs rotting away on splintering porches that look ready to collapse at any time. Find the green washing machine that is a color match to its cabin. Look for photogenic ruins topped off by dead trees. Look for crumbing rock and melting adobe walls. Visit the schoolhouse/museum. Talk to the site stewards. Stop and savor the absolute quiet in the cemetery and feel what this town tells you. The town’s history lies close to the surface and this is a place where you can feel it.

freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gtusa/usa/nm/l...

www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/las_cruces/lake_va...