Kelly New Mexico ghost town

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Kelly New Mexico Townsite - Ghost town

J. S. Hutchason, known as "Old Hutch," is credited with being the father of the Magdalena mining district. His discoveries spawned the mining camp of Kelly.

Hutchason was poking around the Magdalena Mountains in the spring of 1866 when he found rich lead outcroppings. He staked the Juanita Mine and, three weeks later, the Graphic Mine. In those early days the ore was smelted locally in adobe furnaces called "vassos," and then an ox team hauled the metal to Kansas City.

Probing farther around the hills, "Old Hutch" found another promising prospect, which he obligingly turned over to a friend, Andy Kelly, who operated a local sawmill. Kelly gave his name to the mine and worked it for a time, but when he failed to do the required assessment work, Hutchason jumped the claim.

Kelly expanded to include two schools; three churches, a Catholic, Methodist Episcopal, and Presbyterian; and a moving picture parlor. With the increasing influx of miners, sleeping accommodations were scarce. Supposedly, the two hotels rented beds in eight-hour shifts.

By 1931 the smithsonite deposits were exhausted. Gradually, mining throughout the district began to decrease, allowing Kelly to die. Today some mining is still being done near Kelly, but the prosperous camp that once had a population of three thousand no longer claims any residents. The only intact building is the white-stucco-front Catholic Church, where mass is still offered once a year. Adobe and rock ruins dot both sides of the dirt road beyond the church. Extensive mine workings, tailing dumps, old mine buildings, and head frames stand rusted and neglected farther up Kelly Canyon.

Photos courtesy of Mike Sinnwell May 2009

Rocky Mountain Profiles Colorado Ghost Towns and Colorado Photos � Niwot Colorado

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Last modified: 05/22/10

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