Madrid is dead, although it still has an apronful of people. Up
the length of its long canyon street there is only desolation. A
thousand broken windows stare at you. Sullen rusty tipples reel in
uselessness. Open doors sag in surrender to time. Houses that
once sheltered many thousands of people are now gone.
Business buildings deal only in emptiness. The heavy dull dust of
coal can't even hide the blistered paint pallor of Madrid's death.
Coal was first discovered here in 1835, but it was 1869 be-
fore a commercial market was found in the smelters and homes of
nearby Golden, San Pedro and Cerrillos. In 1892 the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Corporation threw its financial weight into Madrid
and boosted coal production from 20,000 tons annually to
200,000 tons a train load of coal every other day.
Over a million tons were taken from one seam in an area only
half a square mile. An odd geological formation is found here in
which both anthracite and bituminous coal occur in the same vein.
When Madrid was in operation, it became famous for its
magnificent display of Christmas lighting. On hill, ridges, houses,
canyon-sides—the place was a drab mining town by day, but
when darkness fell it became a poem in light.
And then year-around darkness fell on Madrid. The mines
closed. Demand for coal fell off. Labor troubles aggravated the
situation. For a generation, now, Madrid has lain dormant. No
more daily trains switching in and out. No more coal-dust faces
pouring out of the mines. No more Christmas. Not even lights in
the houses sinking down into history.
Madrid is 22 miles south of Santa Fe. Take US 85 out of Santa
Fe for five miles. Turn left onto State Highway 10, Madrid is 19
miles away.