Lake Valley, New Mexico

Lake Valley was a silver-mining town in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. The town had its heyday from 1881 to 1893. The last resident left in 1994.

Today the town is a completely deserted ghost town. The townsite is partly privately owned, and partly owned by the US Bureau of Land Management, which has restricted access to the old buildings to daylight hours, to prevent vandalism. There is a self-guided walking tour.

History

A rancher found the Lake Valley silver deposits in Sierra County in 1876. Two years later he sold his claims to an engineer, who began mining. [Charles R. Keyes, "Genesis of the Lake Valley, New Mexico, silver deposits", American Institute of Mining Engineers Bulletin, Jan 1908, p.3.] The deposits are bedded "manto"-type deposits in Paleozoic limestone. The mines produced well for a few years after miners tunneled into a silver-lined cavity they named the “bridal chamber” that alone yielded 2.5 million troy ounces (78 tonnes) of silver.

In 1881 the property was sold to mine promoters George D. Roberts and Whitaker Wright, who split the property among five companies: Sierra Apache Co., Sierra Bella Co., Sierra Grande Co., Sierra Madre Co., and the Sierra Plata Co., and stock was sold widely in the east. Despite the brief wealth of the bridal chamber, shareholders in all five companies lost money.

In 1881, a party of Lake Valley miners formed a posse to pursue a band of Apaches that had raided the town of Hillsboro. The Apaches caught them in an ambush in the hills ten miles west of Lake Valley, and many, including the mine superintendent George Daley, were killed.

The bridal chamber was worked out by 1883. Although a railroad line reached Lake Valley in 1884, the mines struggled and were worked only periodically into the 20th century. Total production of the Lake Valley district through 1931 was 5.8 million ounces (180 tonnes) of silver. [George Townsend Harley (1934) "The geology and ore deposits of Sierra County, New Mexico", New Mexico State Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 10, p.178-179.] The mines reopened during World War II to produce manganese, and continued operating into the 1950s. Lake Valley had a post office from 1882 until 1955.

Geography

The townsite is along New Mexico State Highway 27, 17 miles south of Hillsboro, and 36 miles west of Hatch, at coor dms|32|30|04|N|107|40|04|W|city, at an elevation of 5377 feet (1639 m).

Notable residents and visitors

* "Longhair" Jim Courtright, became town sheriff in 1882
* Benjamin Silliman Jr. examined the properties as a mining consultant
* Whitaker Wright visited the properties and organized the mining companies

References

External links

* [http://www.cultimedia.ch/ghosttowns/htme/lakevalley.htm Photos of Lake Valley]
* [http://americanfrontiers.net/lakevalley/ BLM "American Frontiers" web page for Lake Valley]
* [http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/lakevalley.htm Ghost Town Gallery: "Lake valley, NM"]
* [http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/lvtour/history.html Viva New Mexico: "History of Lake Valley"]
* [http://www.publiclands.org/museum/exhibits/LakeValley1.php Public Lands Museum: "Lake Valley, a relic of the wild west"]