Duran, NM

Duran, New Mexico - 27 August 2011.

My first venture to see a Ghost Town was Duran, New Mexico.  While the drive was about 2 1/2 hours, it was a nice drive.  Off the major highway of I-40, you would take 285 South.  When you get to a small town, Encino, New Mexico, you head down onto Highway 3. 

According to the Duran, New Mexico Community Profile: 

Duran is a community or populated place (Class Code U5) located in Torrance County at latitude 34.467 and longitude -105.397 (Duran Panoramio Photos). The elevation is 6,276 feet. Duran appears on the Duran U.S. Geological Survey Map. Torrance County is in the Mountain time zone (GMT -7). Observes DST? Yes. Current Time. | Encino, NM ZIP Code Maps
Duran had a population of 0; a land area of 4.69 sq. miles; a water area of 0 sq. miles; and a population density of 0.00 people per sq. mile according to the US Census Bureaue estimate of July 1, 2009. Latest Census Estimates for all incorporated places in New Mexico.

As I drove, I passed an elderly man on a tractor.  He was the only person I saw on the trip.  I didn't see anyone in the town, but could tell people were still living there by the new model vehicles in driveways.  The town was 4 blocks, I believe, where a railroad track ran divided the two sides from west and east.  On the east side of town was most of the businesses, including a church and a few houses.  On the west side, mainly homes.

The local general store, Wm. Hindi General Mercantile, was established in 1908.  It look like at one point it was the main place to go.  Now it stands with some graffitti on it, and empty.  There were a few abandoned rail cars behind some homes.

I've included photos for your viewing pleasure.

The Journey Begins

A long time ago, my mother gave me a book, "Ghost Towns of the West."  So, I figured while I was living in the Southwest, not only would I go and explore these towns that at one point use to be booming, but ones that are not listed in the book, but no longer have the population it once had.

This book, which once sat on the bookshelf collecting dust, contains Ghost Towns of Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, and Washington.  Although, I may never see all the places listed, I was not only interested in those places in the book, but places that weren't listed.

As settler's started moving west during the gold rush days, towns began.  Booming with mines and those old "49ers," towns obtained a population into the thousands.  As the gold lost it's cluster (so to speak), people started leaving these towns, which started the term Ghost Towns.  Although Webter's Dictionary defines Ghost Towns as "a deserted town," the more popular Ghost Towns still has residents, as they've been turned into tourist locations, such as Tombstone, AZ; Calico, California

So, the journey begins.