Kingston Ghost Town Museum

10/04/2026

09/30/2026

It sure feels like fall in the Gila and we are gearing up for our second annual Fall Festival. Not only will we have great food (they sold out last year) and great music (enjoyed by everyone), we will have lots of vendors selling a variety of unique gifts. What a great time to start your Christmas shopping. Plan to join us for a fun day of shopping with music and food and maybe even some surprises on October 17 at the Kingston Museum.
And, there is always room for more. If you are interested in being a vendor you may call 575 895-5501 or email [email protected].
Kingston is 25 miles west off exit 63 of I-25. We look forward to seeing you there. You may call for more information.

History museum

09/23/2026

William Johnson was born under a covered wagon in 1875 when his parents were traveling from Lincoln to Las Vegas. Seems he just couldn’t wait until they arrived at their destination.
Though he was a native New Mexican, he didn’t spend much time there. He was one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Philippines and, when his term of service was over, he continued to travel around the world.
In 1931, at the age of 56, he decided to settle down and came to Kingston. He took up mining but also wood carving. He wrote a diary from 1936-37 which we are fortunate to have. And, we recently had one of his wood carvings donated to our museum. Bill said that wood carving brought him more pleasure than anything else he had ever done.

09/09/2026

Come join us for a fun paranormal tour of Kingston’s historic cemetery. We might learn stories from early residents of the 1880’s or discover the resting place of an unidentified soul. And then there’s the completely unknown. We will meet at the cemetery on Highway 152 at 1:00 pm. Cost is $25 pp. Hope to see you there.

09/05/2026

This is mostly referred to as the Jesse Woodward law office. It was in the path of the 1890 fire so I am dating it that year as new construction. However, I need to do further research just in case it survived the fire. It has served as a law office, a saloon, maybe as assay office and the home of Sophie Hanson, all before it fell into disrepair. It has been restored and today is one of Kingston’s few remaining early buildings.

08/26/2026

I am on vacation so don’t have access to my research. However, I will post my favorite photo of Kingston. It is not a Burge photo and was taken from the east end of Kingston looking west. It is a great photo of the Mountain Pride Hotel about in the center and you can see the homes on North St in pretty good detail.

08/02/2026

I recently received a request from one of our followers for information regarding her relative, William Burns. I always love these requests because it gives me an opportunity to learn more about early Kingston and the people who lived here.
William Burns, or Judge Burns, as he was often called, was a prominent person in early Kingston. He served as Justice of the Peace as early as 1883 and was also head of the Democratic Party and very active in mining ventures. He remained in Kingston for a couple of years after the 1890 fire before moving on in 1897. In his sale deed, it very specifically lists his household items in way more detail than I have seen before. I thought you might be interested it the inventory.
“The conveyance includes all of the following personal property… household and Kitchen furniture, stoves and stove fixtures, beds, bedsteads, bedding, lamps, tables, dishes, carpets, chairs, curtains, wardrobe, washstands, cabinet, bookcase, ice chest and dressing case, but does not books, pictures, desk and other personal property, not household kitchen or bedroom furniture……. Not sure why the kitchen and bedroom furniture are included and then not.
But, if you’ve seen a picture of a Victorian home you can almost picture what their home looked like.

07/22/2026

Our 2nd annual Fall Festival is coming up. Last years was a huge success and we expect this one to be even better. If you are interested in being a vendor you may contact me at [email protected]. We have both indoor and outdoor spaces. So save the date - Oct 17 from 10a - 4p.

07/07/2026

Charles Canfield came West from NY with his family when his father was going to try his hand at mining. He was never successful, but evidently Charles acquired his father’s lust for adventure. He left the family when he was 18 and took up mining himself. He was in Kingston by 1883. He sacrificed a lot but never gave up. During one of his lowest points, he was sitting under a tree resting when he saw some small bits of ore. The rest is history. He had discovered the Comstock Mine. He was able to pay off his debts, took his remaining profits and moved to California with his wife and children. He invested in oil with Edward Doheny, whom he had met in Kingston, and became a multimillionaire.
He wrote many letters to his wife while he was away from home, which provide insight into his life as a miner. The following are quotes taken from those letters.
“I have had no pay at all here yet….I have $1.50 and have had it since I came …”
“I have leather wrapped around one foot and one shirt-sleeve gone and am a total wreck in the clothes line”.
“I am writing by campfire, alone to-night with my horse and burro.”
“I am working 8 hours in a shaft 700’ deep and had a very narrow escape the other day. I was up in the shaft about 150’ from the bottom on a stage, when a stick of timber 14’ long came down the shaft, having broken loose from the rope with which they were lowering it 500’ above. It just grazed my shoulder and arm leaving it black to the elbow and just escaped our staging”.
“I had a run of mountain fever and was very sick for 2 or 3 weeks. Charlie Cady (his best friend) quit work and took almost as good care of me as I could get at home.,,,…I was out of my head for a while and talked all of the time. Charlie says that he knew a good deal about me before, but he knows the whole thing now”.
Charles died, while sitting in a chair in his room, in 1913, at 65 years old. He had a very interesting life.

06/27/2026

August Wohlgemuth was a Kingston blacksmith with a bit of history of his own.
Prior to coming to Kingston, he lived in Lincoln NM. In 1881, Billy the Kid was incarcerated in the Lincoln County jail on murder charges. While awaiting trial, he was allowed to use the privy. While returning to the jail on one such trip, he was able to overcome the deputy escorting him, get his gun and kill him. The marshal, Bob Olinger, who was having lunch at the Wortly Hotel, heard the shots and came running. He entered into an ambush and was also killed.
Billy had on leg irons that would have impeded his escape. A blacksmith was called to cut them off. That blacksmith was August Wohlgemuth. It took him about an hour, at gun point, but he succeeded and Billy the Kid escaped. A few years later, Wohlgemuth moved to Kingston and set up shop again.