Ghost towns galore sprinkle the mountains and valleys of the Chihuahuan Desert. The term makes most of us think of the mining towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, towns abandoned as the ores played out. But even today, we have ghost towns in the making, and mining's still at the root. Playas, New Mexico, was built between 1974 and 1977—not for miners, but for workers for the nearby Phelps Dodge smelter. Isolated in the northern Playas Valley, the nearest place for real grocery shopping was in the metropolis of Lordsburg, population somewhat less than 3,000, and only half an hour drive away. Isolated it might be, but a job's a job and the view scenic.
In late 1999, a job was no longer a job, as copper prices fell and the
smelter closed down. The bust part of boom and bust so intimately associated with
mining had struck again. On the other hand, if you have 3.2 million dollars to spare,
there's a very nice little town that might be just what you're looking
for.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Associated Press. 2003. Mining company puts town on the market for $3.2 million. El Paso Times, Jan. 6.