Shakespeare, New Mexico

{{Short description|Ghost town in New Mexico, United States}}

{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name =Shakespeare Ghost Town

| nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes

| designated_other1 = N.M. State Register of Cultural Properties

| designated_other1_date = February 21, 1969

| designated_other1_number = [http://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org/assets/files/registers/2012%20Report_%20Section%203_%20Arranged%20by%20Number.pdf 41]

| designated_other1_num_position = bottom

| image = Shakespeare, New Mexico from SE 3.JPG

| caption = Shakespeare in 2012, seen from the hill to the southeast.

| location = Hidalgo County, New Mexico

| nearest_city= Lordsburg, New Mexico

| coordinates = {{coord|32|19|32|N|108|44|18|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = New Mexico#USA

| area =

| architecture= Greek Revival, Mexican Village

| added = July 16, 1973

| refnum=73001141{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

Shakespeare is a ghost town in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States.{{gnis|920701|Shakespeare}} It is currently part of a privately owned ranch, sometimes open to tourists. The entire community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

History

Founded as a rest stop called Mexican Springs along a stagecoach route, it was renamed Grant after the Civil War, after General U. S. Grant. When silver was discovered nearby it became a mining town called Ralston City, named after financier William Chapman Ralston. It was finally renamed Shakespeare, and was abandoned when the mines closed in 1929.

On November 9, 1881, Old West outlaws "Russian Bill" Tattenbaum and Sandy King, both cattle rustlers and former members of the Clanton faction of Charleston, Arizona Territory, were lynched in Shakespeare, and their bodies were left hanging for several days as a reminder to others that lawlessness would not be tolerated. The two had been captured by gunman "Dangerous Dan" Tucker, who at the time was the Shakespeare town marshal.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8VEeZamhvAC&q=Dan+Tucker,+Deadly+Dozen&pg=PA66 |title=Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West - Robert K. DeArment - Google Books |isbn=9780806135595 |accessdate=2012-08-06|last1=Dearment |first1=Robert K. |year=2003 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}{{clear left}}

Gallery

File:Buildings in Shakespeare, New Mexico.jpg|Shakespeare in 1976.

File:The old Stafford Hotel building in the ghost town of Shakespeare, New Mexico on 30 March, 2023.jpg|The Stafford Hotel building in 2023

File:The interior dining area of the old Stafford Hotel in the ghost town of Shakespeare, New Mexico on 30 March, 2023.jpg|The interior dining area of the old Stafford Hotel.

File:The kitchen of the old Stafford Hotel building in the ghost town of Shakespeare, New Mexico on 30 March, 2023.jpg|The kitchen of the old Stafford Hotel building.

See also

References

{{reflist|22em}}