New Mexico, an old territory long before it became a state, carries much history and just as many ghosts haunting its land. One could talk about La Llorona or New Mexico’s Old State Penitentiary until they are blue in the face, but where are the hidden secrets? The ghosts that don’t want to be found? The following are some scary locations that you can visit this Halloween if you’ve got the guts…
- Hanger Lake Hangar – Las Cruces
Hanger Lake Road’s airplane hangar’s history began in the 1930’s when Las Cruces had two small airstrips outside of the city. Around this hangar began sprouting up the first municipal airport that served Las Cruces until 1967. In the blustery winter of January 1941, much of the original hangar collapsed due to high winds hitting up to 80 mph that came down from the Organ Mountains. Later in the 1950’s the hanger was used as a dance hall. This dance hall was turned down a liquor license due to several fights and bouts of underage drinking. From 1960 to the present day it has been several small churches. This lightly guarded and completely off-limits airplane hangar is known to be the location of demonic activity to the locals. Witnesses claim strange sound like disembodied voices and loud bangs as well as sightings of paranormal activity such as seeing deceased hanging from the rafters.
Las Cruces Sun News – Hangar Lake Article
- Urraca Mesa
Urraca Mesa lies on the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico. The nearby town of Cimarron has enough ghost stories to fill several novels alone. Along with multiple types of foliage like the Ponderosa Pine trees and fauna of wild turkey, deer and a few black bears here and there, you may just catch glimpses of shadow figures roaming the mesa. Urraca Mesa began its existence in a bad light to start off with. The word Urraca, meaning magpie in the Anasazi and Apache languages, has an evil lineage. A magpie is a black bird, about medium sized, who is relative to the crows. The Native Americans believed if you heard the Magpie call your name you are doomed to a negative outcome. The Natives go as far as believing this Mesa to be the gateway to a demon realm. An Anasazi tribe settled near the Urraca Mesa and suddenly disappeared about 900 years ago. What happened to them? Archeologists still don’t have a whole picture of what happened, but they do know that their deaths were violent and some bodies showed signs of torture. Do you dare to visit the demon portal?
Urraca Mesa Article by See the Southwest
- St Catherine’s Indian School – Santa Fe
Care to attend class with the spirits of Santa Fe? St Catherine’s was established in 1894 on a hill northwest of the Santa Fe Plaza. Saint Catherine’s is nestled behind two cemeteries of Santa Fe. The school was the first in the Nations system to educate Native Americans, African Americans, as well as many orphans who called Saint Catherine’s home. Over time, it grew to a campus holding more than 20 buildings, a farm, and several athletic fields. The school was closed in 1893 due to a lack of water to support the school’s farm and the school itself. It is claimed that the dorms of this institution are the hot spots for paranormal activity. In the shadows, you may see silhouettes of hanging bodies in the shadows and hear disembodied screams of the lost souls.
- Madrid, New Mexico
It was once a quaint little coal mining town in Central New Mexico’s Sandia Mountains and more recently a filming location for the 2007 film “Wild Hogs” starring Tim Allen. Madrid is what some would consider a recovered ghost town. Amongst its shops, museums, history, and natural beauty hides secrets. Besides the miners filling the cemeteries, La Llorona, and the Weeping Woman are said to frequent the arroyos and streets of Madrid. However, the main attraction in Madrid is the Mine Shaft Tavern, which burned down Christmas Day in 1944 and rebuilt in 1947 Here guests have observed glasses fall from tables, doors swinging open and closed with no one opening them, and seeing a ghost instead of their own reflection when looking into the mirror. Owners and workers have heard mysterious sounds after closing and upon furniture had moved about on its own. Go have a drink and see for yourself.
- Peggy Sue Bridge – Los Alamos
This is an Urban Legend more than true ghost activity; however it is just as haunting. Peggy Sue Bridge, a steel bridge, was constructed in 1949 or 1950 to link two sides of the canyon attached with gas line piping, anchors, and cables. The most common story is of a girl by the name of Peggy Sue who supposedly jumped off the bridge to her death due to depression, in another telling, she just fell accidentally trying to catch a falling bicycle, falling homework, or a falling dog. It is said that Peggy Sue haunts the bridge and tries to push passersby off the bridge. According to the Los Alamos Police Department, up until 1981, they had no record of anyone jumping or falling off that bridge. A rite of passage for Los Alamos High School students is to brave crossing the bridge in hopes that “Peggy Sue” would let them pass over in peace. It may just be a legend, but for some Los Alamos residents, it is a truth and a scary one at that.
- Hale Lake – Ruidoso Downs
Really it’s a pond, a short distance from Ruidoso Downs. This spot is a popular camping spot for residents nearby. However to stay there, you mustn’t fear the dark… Many strange things happen, just on the drive to the scenic lake. Witnesses report mechanical issues like their radio suddenly not working or the heater/Air Conditioning stop blowing for no reason. Others have reported that if you drive there in the dead of the night your brakes will stop working as well as the entire vehicle dying with no cause, but in the morning, all will be well again. If you are driving to Hale Lake, watch out for the Man wearing all leather who rides on horseback down the road. Witnesses believe they had hit him, but only to look back and see him in the rearview mirror. Light Occurrences such as the “Illuminated Gates” have been spotted also. Last of all if you do choose to camp here, witnesses swear more bizarre than normal dreams visit them at night.
- Holy Cross Sanatorium AKA Camp Cody– Deming
In 1916, in the midst World War I, Camp Deming ( renamed in 1917 to Camp Cody as a tribute to William “Buffalo Bill” Cody) was built through funding from the War Department to be used as a training camp in Deming, New Mexico. After the war was over Camp Cody was taken over by the Catholic Sisters of the Holy Cross and parts of Camp Cody transformed to a sanatorium for tuberculosis exposed soldiers and citizens of Deming and nearby towns. It was renamed by the Sisters to Holy Cross Sanatorium. The underground tunnels of the Camp provided to be handy for transporting the very contagious tuberculosis-ridden bodies of the fallen. The sanatorium closed when Camp Cody was destroyed by a fire in 1939.
There may still be soldiers on the grounds of Camp Cody as well as the victims of tuberculosis. As for the ghosts of Holy Cross, visitors report eerie feelings. Urban legends of this location are satanic cults using this site for rituals and unfounded bottomless pits. Another legend states of three juvenile vandals of Deming who entered the Holy Cross Cemetery on the grounds of the sanitarium and wrecked a tombstone in the process. It is rumored that all three of these teens died within a year of the incident. Homes, business, and other buildings built over the collapsed tunnels report ghostly apparitions and other activities that seem to be paranormal. Another rumor is if you write your name on the walls of the sanitarium you would die within a year, this rumor shows to be false thus far, but would you really want to risk it?
Ghost Eyes – Holy Cross Sanitarium Activity
- Dawson Cemetery – Dawson
Dawson’s Cemetery holds the deceased of the two worst mine collapses in history. The little town of Dawson of Northern New Mexico started up in 1901 when a cattleman named John Barkley Dawson and his partner Charles Springer sold most of their land to Dawson Fuel Co. Soon a railroad connected Dawson to the transcontinental railways and Dawson grew into a great mining town. Ten mines and mining camps were built into the hills surrounding Dawson. The first collapse occurred on October 22nd, 1913 when 284 miners entered Stag Canyon Number 2 mine. Just after 3 in the afternoon, an explosion occurred in the mine; witnesses claim the explosion shot flames more than 100 feet out of the mine’s entrance. Help rushed in from surrounding towns, two rescue personnel died trying to assist the efforts. Out of the 284 miners entering the mine, only 23 survived the incident.
Even though many safety precautions were put into place after this blast, another occurred 10 years, later on, February 8th, 1923 when a mine car derailed and sent sparks into the air that ignited some lingering coal dust which killed 123 more miners. Historians state that some of the men killed were even sons of the men killed in the 1913 explosion. In 1950 when Phelps Dodge closed the mines, many of the buildings were sold, demolished, or moved thus killing Dawson as a town. Rumors of hauntings include light anomalies and mist apparitions that roam the hills and through the graveyard. Locals believe the light anomalies are the headlamps of the lost miners. Are the miners still here? Are there still souls of miners stuck in the mines?
ABQ Journal – Dawson 100 Years Later
Legends of America – Dawson, NM
- St. James Hotel – Cimarron
St. James Hotel was opened as Lambert’s Place, only a saloon then, sometime between 1872 and 1880 when elaborate chef French Henri Lambert showed up in the small mining town of Cimarron, NM. Later the name was changed to Lambert’s Inn as growing needs created the need for a hotel, thus, Lambert built rooms onto the saloon. Histories of Lambert’s Inn’s rowdy Wild West days remain in every crack and cranny of the inn; the tin ceiling still shows twenty-two bullet holes. Famous Guests of the St. James are the outlaw Jesse James, famed Author Zane Grey, and the Earp families, and Buffalo Bill Cody. Wouldn’t it be great to come across these legendary figures in a supernatural ghost encounter? The St. James hotel has been featured on numerous TV shows like Ghost Adventures, My Ghost Story, Haunted Collector, and Ghost Prophecies.
One of the known spirits of the St. James is T.J. Wright who resides in room 18, which is considered the most haunted room. This room will never be booked and will remain complete as it was then. The story of T.J. Wright’s death goes, Mr. Wright was playing cards one late night after quite a fair amount of alcohol and he ended up winning a great hand and then decided to retire to his room for the evening. On his way to his room, he turned a corner leading to his room and was shot from behind. Wright finished making his way to his room and bled to death on the floor of room 18.
The other most talked about the haunted room is the Mary Lambert room, Mary being Henri’s wife. Mary lived a long life in the hotel, birthed her children inside the hotel, watched two of her children die within the hotel, and died in the hotel in December of 1926. Mary was considered to be the protector of St. James by the workers of the hotel. Witnesses say they can smell Mary’s perfume and if you leave the window open in the room she will tap on it until someone closes it. I guess even ghosts can catch a draft.
Center of the West – Buffalo Bill at the St. James Hotel
Prairie Ghosts – St James Hotel
- New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) – Roswell
NMMI as all the locals lovingly refer it as is located in the UFO Capital of the World, Roswell. Established in 1891 as the Goss Military Academy, NMMI was later renamed in February 1893. It began with an enrollment of a total of 28 students including females. NMMI has had a bad reputation for the student’s hazing one another. Maybe this is where some of the most recent activity have come from.
Many ghosts have been debunked over the years, but some ghosts still linger the halls of the grand old school. The haunted bell tower is one that many have classified as true. The bell tower was built after a school tragedy occurred to memorialize the students that passed away during a Polo game at the school. The bell that resides in the tower was recovered from a wrecked Santa Fe steam train. Cadets believe when the bell rings, a cadet will die the next day. Many who have heard the bell claim the story as true due to witnessing a tragedy soon after the bell tolls. Other stories include phantom footsteps in the gymnasium and an ever unfixable seat in the auditorium.
Another Story goes that the phonetic alphabet letter “J” for Juliet is no longer used at NMMI because it is believed to be cursed. The story began in the 1800’s when the Juliet troop of the old western frontier went out to defend the school from Native American attacks and other unsavory wild western bandits; however no one from the platoon survived that excursion. It is rumored that a clock tower was built to honor the platoon. Some witnesses state one can see faces of the lost boys on the rock wall of the clock tower.
NMMI – Heritage & NMMI – Timeline
Used information for entire article: 77 Most Haunted Places in New Mexico
Hidden Secrets NM 
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