Dawson Cemetery is the principal surviving remnant of the former company coal-mining town of Dawson in Colfax County, New Mexico. The town was established around 1901 by the Phelps Dodge Corporation on the Beaubien-Miranda land grant after large coal deposits were developed. At its peak it housed several thousand residents (estimates range from 6,000 to 9,000) and included company housing, schools, stores, and other amenities. Two major disasters struck the mines: on October 22, 1913, an explosion in Mine No. 2 (caused by ignited coal dust or methane) killed approximately 263 miners plus two rescuers; on February 8, 1923, a second explosion killed about 120 men. Combined, the disasters claimed more than 380 lives, most of them young immigrant workers from Italy, Greece, Poland, Mexico, and other countries. The cemetery was established in 1913 and expanded after the second disaster. It contains roughly 600 marked graves across three fenced sections, including more than 350 white iron crosses marking the disaster victims, along with graves of other residents and some World War II casualties. The town closed in 1950 when the mines shut down; buildings were dismantled and the site returned to ranch land. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 after local efforts to document and preserve it. It remains accessible to the public via a dirt road (Dawson Road / A-38 off U.S. 64) and is the only part of the former town open to visitors.
Reported Hauntings and Folklore
Visitor and local accounts describe lights moving among the graves at night that resemble the glow of miners’ headlamps, human-shaped patches of fog or mist, shadowy or full-bodied figures in work clothing that vanish when approached, faint voices, whispers, moans, and cold spots on otherwise warm days. Some accounts mention a solitary figure with a lantern or hard hat walking among the crosses. These stories appear in regional ghost-tour materials, online paranormal sites, and visitor reports; they are commonly linked to the mining disasters. Historical investigations and local histories of Dawson have not produced contemporary documentation of unusual activity while the town was still occupied (until 1950). The reports remain modern visitor testimony and folklore rather than the product of controlled investigation.
Relevant links
National Register of Historic Places listing information
Atlas Obscura: Dawson Ghost Town
Legends of America: The Ghosts of Dawson
New Mexico Magazine: Remembering Dawson
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