Chloride, New Mexico
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Chloride is in Sierra County about 2.5 miles southwest of Winston.  Winston is on New Mexico State Route 52, 29 miles west of I-25 exit 83, north of Truth or Consequences.  Go south from Winston on Forest Service Road 226.  There are signs directing you.  Chloride is mostly deserted, but there are some inhabitants.  As ghost towns go in the 21st century and being relatively easy to get to, this one is pretty good, with some nice falsefronts remaining, at least at the time of my visit in 2002.

 

 

 

 

Photo appearing on page 144 in Looney's book (1968).  These are the most-often photographed remains of the town.  Note the angle of the photo.  There is actually a road in front of these buildings, as you can see in the photos below.  By taking the photo at this angle and from this close to the buildings, the road is not visible, and the impression one gets is that the buildings are more isolated and off the beaten path than they really are.

 

Looking west along Main Street in Chloride.  This photo is from page 43 of the Shermans' book (1975).

 

This is the equivalent scene on November 8, 2002.  The structure at left continues to decompose, but the two falsefronts have been spruced up a bit and are in use in some capacity.  They're not being allowed to deteriorate.

 

This is a closer view of the two falsefronts that appears on page 47 in the Shermans' book (1975).  Like Varney's photo at the top of this page, the angle of this photo does not show the road out front.  But the buildings in the background do give a better sense of what surrounds these buildings.

 

A view of the falsefronts from page 101 of Varney's book (1981).  The words "Pioneer Store" can just be made out on the building at right.

 

Here is a photo of the same falsefront appearing on page 99 of Meleski's book.  It was described as "permanently closed."
 

Same view as above taken on November 8, 2002.  The name "Pioneer Store" dates from the earliest photos.  The building is now a museum.  Below is another view of the two falsefronts from a different angle.  What intrigued me, though, was the little gate standing all by itself in the foreground.  It was apparently all that was left of a fence that enclosed the area I had to stand in in order to snap this picture.  Behind me was just a couple of trailers that looked occupied.

 

Above is another falsefront on the main street of Chloride appearing on page 103 of Varney's book (1981).  Below is the same scene on November 8, 2002.  It looks abandoned in both photos.

 

I just had to stop and snap this scene on the road from Winston to Chloride.  It's a 1955 Chevy, out in a field all by itself, slowly returning to the elements.  At the time of our visit in November 2002, the body didn't look too bad at all, and this little ghost could certainly have provided some usable parts to a restorer.