Riley

Santa Rita on the Rio Salado

Riley is a ghost town in Socorro County, about 20 miles north of Magdalena. It stands near the Rio Salado, at the foot of Ladron Peak. Its founding date differs by source. The Socorro County ghost town guide, written by local historian Paul Harden and published by Visit Socorro, says Pedro Aragon of Polvadera settled the site in 1882. In that account, other families from Polvadera soon joined the Aragons and named the town Santa Rita. They changed the name to Riley in 1892 when they applied for a post office, because New Mexico already had a Santa Rita at the copper mines near Silver City. Ghosttowns.com says the town was first settled around 1880 as a colony of homesteaded farms and got a post office named Riley in 1890. Wikipedia and Visit Socorro’s own listing give 1892 as the settlement year.

According to Harden’s guide, Riley became known for pinto beans, peaches, and pears. Its orchards stood between the town and the Rio Salado. Riley and nearby Puertocito were stops on the Rio Salado road, the main route from the Rio Grande to eastern Arizona. Ghosttowns.com says coal and manganese deposits were found nearby and puts the population at about 150 in 1897.

Decline

The two main sources tell the decline differently. Harden says the springs and water table began drying up in the 1930s “dust bowl” years. The post office closed in 1931, and residents went back to calling the town Santa Rita. Many men left to serve in World War II. The school closed in 1953 when the Rural School Administration was abolished, and the families who remained moved to Magdalena or Belen. Ghosttowns.com instead links the decline to the closing of the mines and the falling water table, and gives the same 1931 closing date for the post office.

What remains

According to Harden, the church and the school, which was in use until 1953, mark the center of town, with the remains of stores and houses scattered around them. The church dates from the 1880s. It is still an active mission of San Miguel parish in Socorro, and a Spanish Mass is held there once a year during the Santa Rita fiesta on Memorial Day weekend. The fiesta also serves as a reunion for former residents and their descendants. Deputy Sheriff Daniel Bustamante, killed by the train robber Broncho Bill Walters in an 1898 shootout, is buried at the church. A rougher road running east from the church passes the old general store, several homes, and a small Protestant cemetery. A photo caption in the guide identifies the adobe ruins of the Nuñez home, where the Nuñez sisters ran a small general store. A Ghosttowns.com contributor also reported a string of adobe cabins along that road and a sign reading “Trujilloville.”

Visiting today

Harden’s guide calls the site private: “Please respect the private ownership and posted areas.” It reports that the Aragon, Romero, and Bustamante families still live nearby. Stay on the roads and away from posted ground. Do not enter buildings, disturb graves, or collect anything without the owners’ permission. The guide rates the road year-round and passable by two-wheel drive but warns that it can be hazardous in heavy rain or snow. It advises staying off it during thunderstorms and not crossing the Rio Salado when the flow is heavy. It recommends a high-clearance vehicle for the road east of the church. Ghosttowns.com warns of possible flash floods.