September 24, 2023
Wow! Time is flying. Here we are already well into the beautiful month of October, and realized my journal pages from our late September road trip fell asleep in the back seat of the car! But I felt my record of this day trip was worth sharing, especially since Halloween is fast approaching, and ghost towns are all the rage!
New Mexico always surprises and delights, and our trip to explore the pseudo ghost town of Cuervo, became two destinations. While in route to Cuervo, we found a curious notation on the highway map referencing the historic village of Puerto de Luna. Only a short, 9.5 mile detour south of Santa Rosa, we decided to check it out.
Puerto de Luna, NM
The village of Puerto de Luna, Gateway of the Moon, is still inhabited, mostly on the West side of the Pecos River. However there are many wrecked and ruined buildings east of the river; enough to merit the label “Pseudo Ghost Town.” After a scenic ride through country used primarily to grow wheat and for livestock grazing, travelers first encounter the well maintained Church of Nuestra Senora del Refugio. Built in 1882, the church is still in use today. Just SE of the church sits the remains of the original Guadalupe County Courthouse. Constructed in 1891 of sandstone brick and blocks, it was only used for a few years. . Before the county seat was moved to Santa Rosa in 1903, a second, much larger building was constructed on the west side of the Pecos, which today is being used as the senior center. Not much remains of the original courthouse; the roof and half of the walls are piles of rubble lying inside the structure. The photos below show the changes from then to now.
Our brief visit to Puerto de Luna was fun. We learned about some of the pre-village history, like the Spanish explorer Coronado was said to have passed this location in 1541, naming the site Puerto de Luna after seeing a spectacular moon rise. And then there’s the more recent account from 1880, involving Billy the Kid and his last dinner here before being escorted by Pat Garret to Las Vegas, NM to stand trial for murder. After a hour of poking about a few more abandoned buildings, we headed back north to Santa Rosa and east 17 miles to our next pseudo ghost town.
Cuervo, NM ….. don’t blink or you’ll miss it!
If you zoom along on I-40 at 75-80 mph, heading east or west, and happen to blink, you’ll surely miss what remains of the old trading post and railroad town of Cuervo. Spanish for “crow,” Cuervo was officially established in 1902 as a watering stop for the CRI&P railroad. When the trains stopped running in 1910, the population declined, and businesses closed. But things took a turn for the better, when in 1926, Route 66 came through town, and Cuervo boomed again. By the 1940s, the population grew to 300, and had 2 of everything ….. schools, gas stations, hotels, churches, doctors, etc. All was just peachy for Cuervo until the late 1960s when the highway department decided to build I-40 right through town, slicing it in two and causing its rapid demise. Although the post office officially closed in 2011, the 58 permanent residents calling Cuervo home still have and use the old zip code, where they get their mail is anyone’s guess. Oh, and if you exit the highway hoping to fill up your tank, think again. Even though there’s a gas station sign that looks like it’s inviting you to stop, there’s no gas, or snacks …. nothing. Just a bunch of dusty roads, crumbled and weathered buildings, and tumbleweeds blowing in the wind.
We spent a few hours poking about the old town grid, exploring a handful of abandoned properties. The old 1915 Catholic Church is padlocked, but opened on Sundays for service. The 1930s schoolhouse appears to be undergoing some renovation. And signs of more prosperous times exist when the old steam engines used to run into town to resupply. Actually there’s been very minimal vandalism considering how close Cuervo is to the interstate, but there’s one serious blemish that made headline news a few years back. The Baptist church was the site of some pretty scary satanic rituals; and it’s thought these practices conducted in the church by the perpetrator resulted in the disappearance and murder of a number of people. We chose not to investigate.
And that concludes my post. Hope you enjoyed reading a bit about life as it was and is today in and around two interesting pseudo ghost towns located in central in New Mexico. I’d be very interested in knowing if you explore ghostly history where you live! Have an awesome day, and remember to be curious!
October 20, 2023
a curious nature 