Lake Valley - Part II

With the discovery of silver and as a stage stop and railhead, Lake Valley grew to 4,000 people, with 12 saloons, three churches, two newspapers, a school, stores, hotels, stamp mills and smelters. The demise of Lake Valley began in 1893 when silver was devalued and the silver panic reduced the consumption of silver. A fire destroyed the main street in 1895 and with the declining economy it was never rebuilt.. The walking tour took us to the few remaining buildings.

 The insurance maps showing the fire losses.

 This building began life as the town school and later became a tavern when the new school was built. It ended life as a service station.

 More background.

 The store in the picture above was destroyed by the 1895 fire.

 This safe was in the general store pictured above at the time of the fire. It has sat in this spot since 1895 when the store was burned from around it.

 This is the home of Mrs. Blanche Nowlin. She was married to Slim Nowlin the railroad superintendent for Lake Valley. She became the local Conoco dealer after her husbands death in 1937 and she stayed here until her death in 1982.

 This is the old Bella hotel and served as home to Pedro and Savina Martinez. Mr. Martinez arrived in Lake Valley in approximately 1904 at the age of 2 and was the last resident to leave town in 1994.

This was the Episcopal Church and was built in the 1920s.

I've saved a few pictures for tomorrow to finish up the story of our visit to Lake Valley. The rest of today's schedule includes a ballgame at 1:00 pm and then a trip to the American Legion this evening with friends Clay and Sharon for a pork chop dinner. Just another day of enjoying the good life.