Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Golden, NM

Golden is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, on the Turquoise Trail between Cedar Crest and Madrid.

As of the 2020 census, Golden had a population of just 19, making it one of the least populous CDPs in Santa Fe County.

Gold was discovered in the area in 1825, and the site of Golden became the location of the first gold rush west of the Mississippi River, years before the California and Colorado gold rushes.

Placer gold was first found on Tuerto Creek on the southwest side of the Ortiz Mountains, and in the late 1820s two mining camps, El Real de San Francisco and Placer del Tuerto, grew up around the diggings.

The San Francisco Catholic Church was built around 1830, shortly after the mining camps formed, and still stands along the highway.

The town of Golden was officially formed in 1879, absorbing both earlier camps, and as the center of the new gold-mining district it soon supported several saloons, businesses, a school, and even a stock exchange.

Golden's post office opened in 1880.

Mining dwindled after the gold began to give out in the mid-1880s, though small-scale mining continued until about 1892 and ranching remained a mainstay of the local economy.

By 1928 the population had fallen so far that the post office closed, and Golden became a ghost town of crumbling abandoned buildings.

The Golden General Merchandise Store, opened in 1918 and known today as the Henderson Store, is the town's only business still operating; it sells Native American jewelry and pottery.