"MADRID, NEW MEXICO" a Madrid Travel Page by MarkJochim

Madrid, originally settled in 1869 and located on the scenic Turquoise Trail (NM 14) about 16 miles south of Santa Fe, is in the mineral rich Ortiz Mountains - the oldest coal mining region of New Mexico.

In 1892, a 6.5-mile railroad spur was built to connect the narrow valley of Coal Gulch with the main line of the Santa Fe Railroad. Wood-framed cabins were dismantled in Kansas and brought to the new town site of Madrid by train to house the miners and their families.

As a growing "Company Town" of over 2500 residents, Madrid became a model for other mining towns to follow. In the 1920s and '30s, schools, a hospital, and other businesses were constructed.

The famous Christmas lights displays were begun in the 1920s when miners lit up the winter sky with 150,000 Christmas lights. The 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity that powered the lights were provided by the company's own coal-fed generators. The displays became so famous that airlines used to divert their planes to fly over Madrid. The Christmas celebrations ended with World War II and the closing of the mines in the 1950s.

Madrid returned from its ghost town status beginning in the early 1970s. The owner of the entire town site at that time rented out a few of the miner's cabins to rugged individuals, artists and craftsmen eager to make a home in the New Mexico mountains.

Today, Madrid has evolved into a bustling community of some 300 people with a busy main street, filled with unique shops.