Iron Horse Adventure: Ghost Town – Cedarvale, New Mexico
In 1908, Ed Smith, William Taylor, and Oliver P. DeWolfe founded a small town alongside the New Mexico Central Railroad line. They named the town Cedarvale after Cedar Vale, a town in Kansas. Pinto beans became Cedarvale’s claim to fame, and Cedarvale earned the title of country’s leading pinto bean producer. The population of Cedarvale reached around 500 during the late 1920’s, but soon died-out shortly afterwards, due to the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression.
The Cedarvale School was originally built in 1917, with an added gymnasium which was built in 1935 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The school included kindergarten through eighth grade, but closed in 1953.
New Mexico Central Railroad – The Santa Fe Central Railroad built a line in this area in 1903; and in 1908, the line became the New Mexico Central Railroad. The railroad was built between the communities of Kennedy (southeast of Santa Fe) and Torrance, in southeastern Torrance County: passing though Stanley, Moriarty, Estancia, Willard, Progresso, and Cedarvale. This line served as a connection at Torrance, NM from the old New Mexico Central line to the Rock Island line. Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad acquired the line in 1926.
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