Aug 18 - The Vanhouten Mine

Taken from the website: www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/vanhouten.html because I can’t find any of my notes…  Please check out this website – it has lots of information regarding the ghost towns of the US and Canada (you can sort by state) and allows you to submit new ones and details that may be missing.  Very interesting site for sure.

Below the info on the mine are some of the photo’s (remember you can click on any photo to enlarge and see a slideshow version) we took around the towns that sprang up near the mine.  I remember reading somewhere (aka Whittington Center I’m sure) that many of the workers were of various ethnicities and tended to live together in different ‘towns’ along the valley – Whittington Center is actively working on adding more signage indicating the townships and if they can, identify the various building ruins.   The Visitor’s Center has old photographs of the mine during it’s heyday.  While it’s true there isn’t a lot of complete buildings left – there is still a lot of foundations, crumbling walls, steps to nowhere and old mining equipment to give someone with a good imagination hours of entertainment and speculation.

Please note that the mine is entirely on the NRA Whittington Center property.  Check in at the entry booth to get a visitor's pass to explore the area.  Just pay attention to these signs:

NAME: Vanhouten
COUNTY: Colfax
ROADS: 2WD (Raymona says – for the most part but in spots you’ll need higher clearance)
GRID #(see map): 3
CLIMATE: Mild winter, warm summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Spring, winter, fall

COMMENTS: The property is privately owned.
REMAINS: Nothing remains.

“The coal mining camp of Willow lay dormant until 1902 when operations were revived by the St. Louis, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Company. The name was changed to Van Houten in honor of the then company president. In 1910, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad extended a branch line into Van Houten and the community began to grow. The town increased in size to about fifteen hundred residents in 1915 and supported two hotels, the Blossburg Mercantile Company among a number of other businesses. The town was largely populated by Germans, Austrians, and Italians all of whom enjoyed gala affairs and celebrations at the town amusement hall. The development of new oil and gas deposits competed strongly with the coal industry forcing the closure of the mine in 1954. The town sponsored an active Red Cross chapter and during World War I sold $111,000 worth of Liberty War Bond subscriptions. This was the largest per capita investment in the war effort of any town in the America. All of the Buildings of Van Houten have disappeared. Today, the property is privately owned by Kaiser Steel Corporation. Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

UPDATE:  Listed in the text is that it belongs to Kaiser Steel, it is now part of the NRA Whittington Center. There is at least one house still standing and the old Mule building is there, without the roof, but you can make out some of the mule names on the wall. Several other ruins are visible including the entrance to the mine. - Courtesy Doug.”

~ www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/vanhouten.html 

View from above

If you look closely you can see the old washtub in the trees.

Mine entrance?  Or dugout...

Company Store

Steps of the company store

Foundation of company store

Mule Barn

Close up of mule barn - we didn't go in it due 

to "live fire" signs

Aug 15 - NRA Whittington Center, Raton, NM

Cimarron Canyon campground in the morning

So, Monday morning we drove east toward Raton to check out the NRA Whittington Center's campground.  On the way, we passed a couple herds of Buffalo and a whole-lot of nothing else.  :-)  But the setting at WC was actually very nice - butted up against the mountains, there were pretty good views of rolling hills, mountains and extinct volcanoes.

The NRA Whittington Center is located about 11 miles west of Raton on Hwy 64.  While it bears the NRA name, it is solely supported by it's own fees and donations.  First established in 1973, it has come a long ways in amenities, now boasting a small, gun museum and library, gift shop, and 14 different shooting ranges varying from  pistol to high-powered long-range rifle, skeet and black powder.  There are several cabins that can be rented out as well as 2 campgrounds with 125 full hook-up sites.  What we liked the most was the peace & quiet - which seems a bit of an oxymoron considering all of the gun ranges.  I'm sure there are times that it would be crowded and loud but the week we were there it was peaceful.  In the early evenings a few police officers came in to shoot but we pretty much at the whole place to ourselves.  HEAVENLY considering we had people tromping through our last campsite...  but I get a head of myself.

Visitor Center at the NRA WC

Wayfinder at NRAWC

One of the shooting ranges

Another shooting range

There was quite a bit of wildlife throughout the WC - antelope, deer and rabbits.  I brought a hummingbird feeder so we had a few hummers too.  The Center staff warned us about bears and a mountain lion in the area - there had been a very large fire near Raton and it has driven the bears and lions down into the area, the staff were more worried about out dogs than us - but alas we didn't spot any of the predators.

Antelope crossing the road

Deer in camp

Hannah & Maggie spotted the deer in outside the camper

Deer on the hill

One of my hummers

It was so dark, the night skies were amazing - so many stars and cool enough that you could actually stay out and enjoy them.  We had great moon rises.

Sunset

Moonrise