Nuestra Senora de Refugio Cemetery, Puerto de Luna, New Mexico

Old House 143

A Glimpse of Grzelachowski's Store

Puerto de Luna, New Mexico

(National Register of Historic Places) … Billy the Kid frequented the Grzelachowski store. A.J. Padilla, who was married to Grzelachowski's daughter, was the source of many stories told to him by his mother-in-law. Billy, she said, was fascinated by Grzelachowski's learning and by his tales. He would listen intently and beg Grzelachowski to speak Latin, Polish, or Greek.
Billy would stand in front of the store and shoot at tin cans, shifting his gun from hand to hand and shooting as well with either. Grzelachowski instructed his clerks not to argue with Billy and to give him anything he wanted. Once when Grzelachowski was away, the clerks saw Billy riding into town with a few of his companions and immediately ran out the back door. Finding the store deserted, Billy and his friends took what they needed and rode on.
Several days later when he returned through town, the Kid asked Grzelachowski what he owed. Grzelachowski replied that he didn't think that the Kid owed anything. Another time a clerk noticed the Kid taking ammunition and accused him of trying to steal from a friend. Whereupon Billy put the boxes back. Continued

Country Churches: Nuestra Senora del Refugio

Puerto de Luna, New Mexico

Country Churches: Saint Inez

Santa Inez, Puerto de Luna, New Mexico

Old House 139

Puerto de Luna, New Mexico

Puerto de Luna and Santa Rosa mark the western edge of New Mexico's eastern plains. Both towns are decades older than most of their sister cities to the east.
Founded by Hispanic settlers in the 1860's, it was about as far east as a New Mexican could get without annoying the mighty Comanche, who would rule the Llano Estacado until 1874.
Billy the Kid spent his last Christmas in Puerto de Luna in 1880.

Ghost Town Roundup: Cuervo, New Mexico

Cuervo is a great little ghost town, featuring a church, an abandoned school, and many abandoned houses. The church is NOT abandoned.
The town sits about 17 miles east of Santa Rosa, just off I-40 (and old Route 66), in Guadalupe County. Access is easy, but remember that not all the buildings are unoccupied, especially towards the back of town. Like the rest of New Mexico, there may be snakes, and there will definitely be stickers, thorns, and burrs.

Union Pacific 5515, Cuervo, NM

Cuervo, New Mexico: Abandoned Truck

A lot of scenes in Cuervo look almost Pompeiian, but not this one.

Santa Rosa Courthouse Monument

There is a monument on the courthouse grounds at Santa Rosa, New Mexico that tells the story of the area in a series of relief sculptures. I don't know what the official name is, or who created it.

Old House 86

Cuervo, New Mexico

Old House 85

Newkirk, New Mexico: "Cold Drinks"

Old House 84

Cuervo, New Mexico

Old Testament Gas Station

Newkirk, New Mexico

This little ruin reminds me of that old Joke:
Q. Did you know there are motorcycles in the Bible?
A. Yes, "The roar of David's Triumph was heard throughout the land."

Country Churches: Newkirk, NM

Old House 81

Cuervo, NM

Figural Bottles: Newkirk, NM

 

It may have ended up a figural bottle shop, but I imagine it started off as something else, perhaps a motel office or the such.

Abandoned Tourist Court: Newkirk, NM

Bridge: Cuervo, NM