Steins Railroad Ghost Town
Steins may be closed.
First call Chamber, 575-542-9864, or the Visitor Information Center, 575-542-8149, Lordsburg.VIC@state.nm.us
Steins Railroad Ghost Town, circa 1858, is 16 miles west of Lordsburg along the Butterfield Stage Route. Steins served east and west bound wagon trains. Later, it was a railroad stop ... and today open Friday through Monday to visitors on I-10. They usually close the first 3 weeks of December.
In the 1880’s a heliograph station was placed on Steins Peak to signal information about Geronimo’s raiding parties and those of the Apache Kid. Later, Black Jack Ketchum terrorized the little village with other gangs of horse thieves and express robbers after the arrival of the railroad and it was often not a safe place to live. A walk down the dirt paths of Steins is like walking back through time.
Steins Railroad Ghost town is located at Exit 3 on Interstate 10 west of Lordsburg.
The folks there are always glad to see you. Steins has a tremendous amount of history, and has been written about in books and filmed for documentaries and movies.
Steins is pronounced STEE-ns (sometimes STYN-z). Steins was probably named for Major Enoch Steens. He "was the first to suggest on the basis of his reconnaissances that a post near the Santa Rita mines be established to control the Mimbres; it was created in 1852 and named Fort Webster with Steen in command. . . . April 7, 1853, Steen as commander at Fort Webster, was the first Anglo witness to sign a compact or treaty with Mimbres Apaches, including Delgadito, Cuchillo Negro, Victorio and nine other leaders. It was never ratified by the United States, however. In May 1853, Steen, "that excellent officer," escorted William Carr Lane to the Gila River from Fort Webster. It is probable that Steins Peak and Steins Pass in southwestern New Mexico, both important points in frontier history, were so-called for Steen, whose name sometimes was spelled Stein. He was promoted to major July 15, 1853, and by 1860 he was in Oregon Territory."
- Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography III, 1988, Dan L. Thrapp
Photo courtesy Lordsburg Visitor Information Center
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