The Town Too High To Die: A Self-Guided Audio Tour in New Mexico

Madrid produced the coal that both built the Bomb and inspired Walt Disney. Abandoned as a ghost town for many years, it was reborn as a thriving artistic community. The Oral History Tour lets you hear Madrid’s stories, as told by the people who lived them. Using smartphone technology, it plays the audio automatically, at exactly the right time and place.

All dimensions of Madrid’s peculiar, multifaceted story are explored: from an eyewitness account of union-busting violence, to that time the brand-new fire engine accidentally burned down the firehouse. The Oral History Tour was distilled from seventy hours of interviews, and endures as a preserved collective memory of this unique New Mexican treasure.

Of this two-hour tour, The Santa Fe Reporter wrote, “It’s a deep dive into the fascinating history of the little town. You’ll find interviews with locals, some of whom have lived in Madrid their whole lives, and a narrator with a soothing voice ... it works exceedingly well.”