Gardiner - New Mexico Ghost Town

GARDINER

NAME: Gardiner
COUNTY: Colfax
ROADS: 4WD
GRID #(see map): 3
CLIMATE: Mild winter, warm summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Spring, winter, fall

COMMENTS: Worth the trip
REMAINS: Many ruins

A geologist for the Santa Fe Railroad, a James T. Gardiner, discovered coal in Dillon Canyon about 1881 and by 1882 operations had begun. It was inevitable that the town was named Gardiner. As it began to grow, the town took on a certain sophistication with a Ladies Club, a local band, the Gardiner Reading Circle, and a sportsmen's club among other social activities. During the early 1920s, Gardiner was at its zenith. But the Great Depression of 1929 started a downhill slide from which the town would not recover. The mines closed in 1939, men lost their jobs and people moved away. A few families remained during World War II to ship residual coke breeze to smelters throughout the southwest. All activity ceased in 1954, the three hundred coke ovens went into ruin and Gardiner became a ghost town. What remains of the town warrants a visit into this picturesque valley.Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

A geologist for the Santa Fe Railroad, a James T. Gardiner, discovered coal in Dillon Canyon about 1881 and by 1882 operations had begun. It was inevitable that the town was named Gardiner. As it began to grow, the town took on a certain sophistication with a Ladies Club, a local band, the Gardiner Reading Circle, and a sportsmen's club among other social activities. During the early 1920s, Gardiner was at its zenith. But the Great Depression of 1929 started a downhill slide from which the town would not recover. The mines closed in 1939, men lost their jobs and people moved away. A few families remained during World War II to ship residual coke breeze to smelters throughout the southwest. All activity ceased in 1954, the three hundred coke ovens went into ruin and Gardiner became a ghost town. What remains of the town warrants a visit into this picturesque valley.Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

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