Madrid was a company town owned by the Albuquerque & Cerillos Coal Company.   In 1922, The Madrid Employees Club was formed for the miners and their families.   The Club worked on many projects and activities; such as, Easter activities, the Madrid baseball team, golf club, a band, the Annual Fourth of July Parade, etc. Madrid Christmas Celebration was also one of the projects of the Madrid Employees Club and it became famous nationwide.

 

Beginning in 1922, several families started Madrid Christmas Celebration by putting decorated Christmas trees outside of their homes. Soon, the displays became electrified, and the event grew to display more than 100,000 lights.   A line of cars coming into Madrid would extend for miles to see the lights and decorations.  Everything in town and the hillsides were heavily decorated. The event further expanded to include TOYLAND at the ballpark, which was built for children. TOYLAND was all handmade by the miners and it included a Ferris wheel, Santa’s Airplane, a carousel, a railroad station with a miniature 769 train for children to ride, and characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  The spectacle became so big that many newspapers and magazines wrote about it. Perhaps this is why Walt Disney visited Madrid and saw TOYLAND, inspiring him to create Disneyland.   

 

In 1937, Trans World Airlines (TWA) pilots rerouted their plane flights over Madrid to see the lights from above. In December 1941 WWII began, ending the famous Madrid Christmas Celebration. The miners went off to war and over time the town became a ghost town.

 

In the early 1970’s, the town began its revitalization into an artist colony. Residents started to honor Madrid’s famous past with the Madrid Annual Christmas Parade and weekend celebrations throughout December.Visit the Madrid Old Coal Town Museum to learn more about Madrid’s unique history. A special film and display will be set up this year’s Christmas celebration.