Raton Museum — Attraction in Raton

I spent the better part of an hour simply talking to Mr Roger. He was a miner for 15 years, putting up cribbage underground. His four uncles served, his brother served in Vietnam in 1964. He described the life immigrants had in the mines around Raton, NM. He was quite patient with me as I asked questions relating to all that transpired with miners and their lives. A company town was EXACTLY THAT. You either produced or you were left destitute. Keep in mind that these were immigrants who gave up one life to start another. If you failed to produce... you were destitute. Immigrants, after work, went to be their little enclaves of other immigrants from the save country. You had the Greek Community of Miners, Italian, middle Europe...etc. Roger mentioned that minors could tell when the cribbing was shrinking...that area of mine was going to collapse. On several occasions, he had to run for his life when underground. He talked about so much, I wanted to spend more time......

This is an outstanding museum, about raton, New Mexico and the coal mining communities around it. The person that runs the museum has had it for many many years and has built it up from a small one-room building off the main drag down by the train depot. He has worked with the city and now has a nice two-story building on the main drag and has a lot I repeat myself a lot of stuff. Pictures, dolls, cameras, data and stuff about the mining communities and he is a wealth of...

This is a must see if in the Raton area. The museum holds the history of the area including the mining industry, ranching and homesteading going back for generations. The museum's curator, a local, is friendly and knowledgeable and keeps the artifacts beautifully displayed. The museum is accessible to wheelchairs. It's a very interesting place to spend some time and gather a better understanding of Raton and surrounding...