history


cloudcroft

The history of Cloudcroft is all about railroads and recreation. It all began in the late 1800s when the Eddy brothers arrived in Alamogordo with grand plans to extend the El Paso and Northeastern Railway to the north to connect it to a line that choochoo'd to Chicago. Extending the railroad was about commerce, but it was also about helping advance New Mexico from a territory to a state. To do this, the brothers needed wood for railroad ties, and when they looked toward the Sacramento Mountains towering to the east, they saw their source. A survey crew found a path for a rail line to the mountain peak and reported that the beauty from the top could draw visitors. The survey crew suggested the name Cloudcroft—a pasture for clouds—for the potential resort.

By the end of 1898, the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway reached Toboggan Canyon, a side canyon to Mexican Canyon just below present-day Cloudcroft. The Eddys opened up The Pavilion (still standing, although twice rebuilt due to fires) the following year. At that time, you needed to ride a stagecoach from Toboggan Canyon to the summit. 

In early 1900, the railroad finally reached the summit and a new depot. Three trains a day brought the mail and visitors up and logs and departing visitors down. The railroaders built various side-lines into the forest for logging. Once a roadway for cars and trucks was built, the economics of running the railroad began to falter. The last passenger train pulled out in 1938 and the last freight train descended the mountain in 1947.

Many of the trails in the forest are along the old rail lines, so the old views can still be experienced. But sadly, the days of soot and toot are long gone.

logging

http://npshistory.com/publications/usfs/region/3/lincoln/cultres4/sec1.htm

railroad

https://sfct.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/NMRR-LAM-9-1-2019-v2.pdf

the lodge

The railroad company built the first lodge between 1900 and 1901 at the corner of Chipmunk and Highway 82 east of Curlew (where Mad Jack's, among others, are located today), but it burned down in 1909. Henry Trost, an architect out of El Paso who designed many of the historic skyscrapers in downtown El Paso, a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home, and the railroad hotels in Marathon, Alpine, Marfa, Van Horn, and Socorro (NM), designed the original hotel.

A new lodge, the one today, was built in 1911 at its present location (Trost submitted a design but was not selected; the design is on the wall as you walk into the hotel). Over the years, the Lodge has hosted Judy Garland, Greta Garbo, Gilbert Roland, Clark Gable, Pancho Villa, Sam Donaldson, and me. At one point, it was managed by Conrad Hilton, who got his start in the hotel bidness in nearby San Antonio, New Mexico. It's claimed that every governor of New Mexico has spent a night at The Lodge (maybe because there's a governor's suite).

The 1911 Lodge has Jacobean and Italianate elements and has undergone some modifications. The dining room used to be two stories in height but now has two stories. The original outdoor dining patio has been closed in. The Lodge had a speakeasy during prohibition called the Red Dog Saloon (recently resurrected). 

 

Despite a checkered history which has reflected
shifts in American economy, society, life, and
culture...
In spite of cha nges, alterations, and facelifts.. .
She still stands...
The Lodge...
The Queen of the mountain, and
Ruler of the Land of Cool Pines.

- Sally Kabat


The original lodge

 

the baby sanitarian

opened in 1911

eagle eyrie

Built in 1897 by Major William H. Long of El Paso, this structure still exists at 609 Grand Boulevard in near-original condition (with "eagle eyrie" spelled out on its railings!). Worth a gawk from the street.

the pavilion






the texas hotel


up the mountain via postcards

 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  


 

 


 

sources

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