The bank that never opened
Today's pics from our visit to Chloride, New Mexico. A little town of 70 souls. The museum was closed because they're preparing for a Christmas party and bingo tonight. Cute. They invited us but it's a little far from us.
The only bank in Chloride. Built of native stone. It failed before it even opened. The United States government adopted gold as the monetary standard and the price of silver plummeted. It precipitated the so-called silver crash of 1893 because no longer was it worth the work to haul the silver out of the hills. Sad I think, no one is restoring or saving the little building from ruin. Apparently someone took the timber from the roof in the 1940s to re-use (which was not uncommon in the early days). It's been withering away ever since.
If you will be spending much time in the area, an excellent book is Elephant Butte-Eastern Black Range Region, Journey from Desert Lakes to Mountain Ghost Towns, Scenic Trips to the Geologic Past No. 16 by Lozinsky, Harrison, Lekson.
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