Madrid was the first town I came to along the beautiful Turquoise Trail, the scenic byway which connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Pronounced MAD-rid for some maddening reason, I couldn’t find a clear story as to how the town got its name. The earliest Europeans in the area most likely came from Spain, but it doesn’t appear that Madrid got its name until New Mexico was an American territory. First lead and then coal were mined in the surrounding hills and in 1892 a 6 mile spur was built to connect the town to the Santa Fe Railway. By 1906, coal mining in the area was consolidated under the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company and a company town grew to a population of over 3,000, more than that of Albuquerque at the time. In 1922, Madrid boasted the only baseball field with lights west of the Mississippi River, and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league affiliate the Madrid Miners played there for many years. The mines did well until the early 1950s and in 1954 the Coal Company left Madrid and many of the residents went with them. By the early 1970s, Madrid was almost a ghost town but then artists discovered the town and started moving in. Today, Madrid is a vibrant and colorful town with many reminders of the old mining town that it once was, but truly reborn as an artists’ colony and a tourism destination. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful Madrid, New Mexico.
People have been visiting the natural hot springs in the Palomas Basin for centuries. The Spanish called them Ojo Caliente de Las Palomas and the cowboys called them Palomas Hot Springs. In the late 18th century, a public bath was built on a ranch in the area where people could come and take the waters. When the Elephant Butte Dam was built in 1912 to help with irrigation, the area became more attractive to settlers and the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico was incorporated in 1916. Twenty-one years later, it would become the county seat of Sierra County. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular radio show Truth or Consequences, promised to air their 10th anniversary show live from any town that would change its name to match that of the show. Hot Springs residents jumped at the opportunity and officially changed its name to Truth or Consequences. Edwards made good on his promise and visited the town on the first weekend of May every year for the next 50 years. His visit was turned into a celebration, Fiesta, which still happens every year at that time. T or C, as the locals call it, is a wonderful and colorful little town full of hot springs resorts and art galleries and with a backdrop of beautiful mountains that light up when the sun is low in the sky. I loved my brief stay in one of the country’s most uniquely named towns, and I hope you enjoy these photos of fabulous Truth or Consequences.
