Las Palomas- New Mexico Ghost Town

LAS PALOMAS

NAME: Las Palomas
COUNTY: Sierra
ROADS: 2WD
GRID #(see map): 4
CLIMATE: Mild winter, warm summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Spring, winter, fall

COMMENTS: 7 miles S of Truth or Consiquences
REMAINS: Several homes and a church

Las Palomas (Spanish for "The Doves," abundant in nearby cottonwoods) was settled in the 1850s by the Garcia and Tafoya families. Once the largest settlement on the Rio Grande, it had a post office from 1881-1964 and became an important supply point in the late 1880s. Nearby Palomas Gap was the site of a major transportation route and a toll road in the early 1900s. The town moved a mile west of its original site when Caballo Dam was built in the1938 and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation bought much of original townsite. Today, San Isidro Catholic Church is still active and there are several homes, an old cemetery and a schoolhouse (1890s-1940s). Nearby Indian pueblo ruins probably date to 500 A.D. Courtesy Michael Cook.	The stone graveyard in Las Palomas. Courtesy Michael Cook.

Las Palomas (Spanish for "The Doves," abundant in nearby cottonwoods) was settled in the 1850s by the Garcia and Tafoya families. Once the largest settlement on the Rio Grande, it had a post office from 1881-1964 and became an important supply point in the late 1880s. Nearby Palomas Gap was the site of a major transportation route and a toll road in the early 1900s. The town moved a mile west of its original site when Caballo Dam was built in the1938 and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation bought much of original townsite. Today, San Isidro Catholic Church is still active and there are several homes, an old cemetery and a schoolhouse (1890s-1940s). Nearby Indian pueblo ruins probably date to 500 A.D. Courtesy Michael Cook.

The stone graveyard in Las Palomas. Courtesy Michael Cook.

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