The lights of Christmas past and present in the mining town of Madrid

Nestled between Albuquerque and Santa Fe lies Madrid, which has more holiday lights than residents this time of year.

The once bustling coal-mining town, now has a population of 248 and a rich history of festive and decorative holiday displays, earning Madrid the name “Christmas Town” in the 1920s, according to New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez.

Martinez said the man behind the displays was Oscar Huber. He became superintendent of the mines around this time, and to boost morale, he had the miners decorate for the holidays.

“He came up with the idea of decking the whole town out in lights and putting up Christmas images on the hills…” Martinez said. “On the hillsides there’d be images from the Christmas story, from the Bible, and even a massive, 35-foot-tall image of Jesus Christ that towered over the town.”

He said Huber had characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck put up in lights north of Madrid, in an area called Toy Land.

“If you can imagine that, at the north end of town, this spectacle became known throughout the nation,” Martinez said.

“So much so that legend has it that Walt Disney himself visited Madrid in 1930,” Martinez said, “and supposedly was inspired by the bright lights to create an amusement park to be called Disneyland.”

He said that it took months of preparation and hundreds of miners to string up to 150,000 lights that decorated the town the first year. The tradition kept going until World War II, when instead of a town of lights, it became a town of ghosts after the mine closed and people left in droves, leaving the town abandoned for several years.

Madrid resident Pam Sullivan said the town went up for sale in 1975, and people started to come back and reinhabit the old mining shacks.

“Fast forward to 2025, it’s a wonderful tourist destination,” she said.

While there are not as many lights up anymore, Sullivan said there is still a beautiful light display that draws in tourists and an annual parade. The decorations still have that “old flavor” to them, she said.

“At night, it’s just that whole Main Street is just aglow with all the lights...” Sullivan said, “and a lot of the people who live here as well will do lighting decorations on their homes as well.”

“We still have the cut-out, hand-painted figures. We do not have plastic blown up, various things out there,” she said. “So it’s still that historic charm, and you really feel like you’re stepping back into a piece of history.”

The Madrid Christmas Parade will make its way down Main Street at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, followed by the annual lighting of the town.