An Abandoned Place

Ghost Towns and other places left to rot

Metal art from the abandoned place called Traditions! A Festival Marketplace

Roaming around New Mexico, it’s easy to come upon abandoned structures. Ghost towns are in huge supply here - the New Mexico Tourism website lists 28 towns that have this label. But there are so many more places where one can find dilapidated, crumbling structures from an era long gone by. Some of these towns still have some residents, but the remaining evidence tells the story of a once vibrant, lively town.

In my travels through the state, I have visited several of the 28 towns on the official ghost town list. A few of these still have residents. As a matter of fact, one of the towns, Monticello, seemed to be experiencing a sort of “renewal”, as there were several “For Sale” signs posted by realtors and even a few building that were being restored when I visited last year. Now don’t get the wrong idea, Monticello is not on the road to becoming a major metropolitan area any time soon. But it seemed like a place where someone could go there with a few horses and goats and live a slow, quiet life.

The picture above shows the gate to the courtyard of one property for sale (if you’re interested, check here on realtor.com). Asking price is $525k, which seems like a bit much to me considering it’s off the beaten path - 155 miles south of Albuquerque and 98 miles north of Las Cruces, the two closest places where you can catch a flight when you need to get away from your horses and goats.

Not Your Ordinary Abandoned Shopping Mall

Today a friend and I visited an abandoned shopping mall called Traditions! A Festival Marketplace. Back in the 1950’s, before I-25 was built, a couple named Joseph and Sally Budaghers established a trading post in the area. They ran a thriving business by trading with the local Pueblo Indians and selling gas, food, and native American handmade items such as rugs, pottery and jewelry to drivers passing by. When the interstate was completed, the traffic no longer went past the trading post and the business ended. Over 30 years went by before the area, aptly called Budaghers, was developed as an outlet mall. The location, almost midway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe along I-25, lasted only four years, closing for business by 1997. In 2000 it was redeveloped and renamed Traditions! A Festival Marketplace. The concept was to create a shopping experiencs featuring art galleries, restaurants, and handmade Native American products such as rugs, pottery, and jewelry. By 2007 Traditions! also failed to attract shoppers and was no longer in business. Since closing the property has been abandoned and left to deteriorate, used occasionally by film crews. We went there today to see what was still standing.

The remains of what was once Traditions!, A Festival Marketplace.

Oddest offer - stay four nights at the hotel and get free beer. Really??

Oddest building, in my opinion, was the funeral home. At a festival marketplace? Really???

Lastly, the giant harp.

About the giant harp, here’s what one website has to say about it:

“An Aeolian Harp is a wind-driven, kinetic instrument. Wind rushing across the strings create eerie beautiful harmonies, which perfectly offsets the eerie creepy abandoned shopping mall in which the Harp resides.”

If there is one thing New Mexico has plenty of, it is wind. We were there last week when wind gusts reached about 30 miles per hour. Unfortunately, I did not know about the harp and its eerie harmonies at that time, or I would have risked being blown away to experience the sound. Maybe on the next windy day …