CEDARVALE
County: Torrance
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Year Established: 1908
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Year Abandoned: Post office closed 1990
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Location: Cedarvale is located on New Mexico State Road 42, 10.2 miles northwest of Corona
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About: Edward Smith, William Taylor, and Oliver P. DeWolfe of Cedarvale, Kansas laid out this farming community in 1908.
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Hundreds of homesteaders arrived on immigrant trains. Most farmed pinto beans, shipping their crop to distant markets. The area was the largest producer for pinto beans in the 1920's.
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In 1917, the community successfully petitioned to build a large schoolhouse. The WPA added classrooms and a gym in 1935-36. At the school's peak, it served 50 students. The school was an integral part of the community with the gym often used as a social gathering place. Drought and the Depression substantially reduced the population.
Remains: Please be mindful of the current residents and please obey the no trespassing signs. As of now there is still a school worth seeing and a couple of abandoned buildings.
I would not advise going inside the school.
Timeline
1908
Cedarvale was established
1917
Bond was issued to build a school
1920's
Cedarvale was the country's largest producer of pinto beans
1921
School was finished being built
1935
The Depression Works Program Administration expanded the school to have four classrooms and a gymnasium and served 50 students in its peak
1953
School closed
1990
Post office closed
2022
Unsure if you would consider Cedarvale a full ghost town or semi ghost town, but has a population of 250 and a zip code
Cedarvale School
Entrance to Gymnasium
Gymnasium
Decaying Classroom
Weathered Shed
Outhouse
Abandoned House
