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SCHS Archive Photos of
the 1929 San Marcial flood
Socorro County Historical Society
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
San Marcial, NM
Archive photos of the 1929 flood
Photos: Socorro County Historical Society archives
Flood waters at San Marcial - several days after the August 13, 1929 flood. Photo taken from the railroad water tank.
Flooded business street
Business walls collapsing
Gas station and garage
sitting in flood waters
Goodyear tire shop
Businesses
buried in silt
Business district looking
north from the depot
Harvey House and flooded
Railroad Avenue
Harvey House during the first flood with employees and guests waiting to be rescued
Flooded street and buildings
behind Harvey House
Three feet of dried mud and silt outside and inside the Harvey House following the flood
1929 Flood: San Marcial business district:
1929 Flood: San Marcial homes and the town:
The San Marcial Harvey House
Floodwaters over everything
Adobe walls of the
houses collapsing
Railroad workers housing
after the flood
San Marcial covered with 3-4 feet of flood waters for weeks
Submerged in water for weeks - houses and buildings began to collapse under their own weight - eventually causing complete destruction of the town.
San Marcial
Opera House
Residents returning to view the destruction
The AT&SF Railroad
Destroyed in the 2nd 1929 flood were the Roundhouse, turntable, train yards
and the machine shops. AT&SF determined it would be too costly to rebuild
and abandoned San Marcial. Shops and employees sent to El Paso and Albuquerque.
Photo
Gallery
0810/20b
Click photos to enlarge
San Marcial and surrounding towns were destroyed by floods on August 13 and September 23, 1929. Both floods were due to unusually
heavy monsoon rains in the region that overwhelmed the Rio Grande. San Marcial was inundated under several feet of water and
silt. Soon, homes and buildings began to collapse. AT&SF decided to not rebuild due to the extensive damage to their shops and
facilities. Without the railroad, there was no San Marcial and the town has been abandoned ever since.
History of the San Marcial
floods here
The following are archive photos of the Socorro County Historical Society. They were donated to SCHS in the 1980s by San Marcial residents Guy and Delores Hunter, son Don Hunter, and other families who lived through the flood.
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