Fort Stanton
Abandoned Military in Hondo, New Mexico, United States
Jan 21 2022
| Recent status | Abandoned |
| Location # | 18279 |
Hazards of Fort Stanton
The military uses highly sophisticated weaponry that produces toxic chemicals harmful to health. Gunpowder and explosive powder are just but a few of the chemicals that the property has traces of. Having been constructed in the 1850s, lead paints and asbestos used during its construction are harmful when one comes into contact with them. This causes hallucination and respiratory disease respectively.
History of Fort Stanton
Fort Stanton groundbreaking was done in early 1850 and its completion was in 1855. The fort which was home to 3 infantry regiments was built to protect Hispano and white settlers from Apache Wars. It took part in various wars during its heyday. In the 1861 civil war, Fort Stanton was one of the forts which were taken over by enemy armies. Later during the world war, it was the detention facility where German and Japanese spies were held captive.
Fort Stanton is an abandoned former U.S army installation in New Mexico. Fort Stanton which took part in various wars during its operational days was abandoned and is now a recreation and historical site. The fort was turned into a park after it was recorded as a historic landmark in the state of New Mexico.
Fort Stanton days as a hospital
Three years after it was abandoned, President William McKinley transferred the fort to marine hospital service. Fort Stanton was therefore converted into a military marine hospital and the first-ever federal tuberculosis sanatorium. Its operation days as a marine hospital saw it serve many purposes including being a detention facility for a while during the cold war. The marine hospital closed after 64 years of operation and the fort was left to rot.
Converting of Fort Stanton to a historic site
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson in 2008, began work on Fort Stanton to turn it into a living history venue for the residents of New Mexico. A year later, the area around Fort Stanton was officially designated to be a historical park with Fort Stanton as one of the monuments in the park. Well-wishers and investors later took part in the various restoration processes of the fort. Currently, major buildings such as Fort Stanton’s Hidalgo building, historic schoolhouse have all been renovated. More restoration work is still underway to fully restore the historical park and its monuments to their former glory.
Is Fort Stanton open to the public?
Fort Stanton is currently a national historical park after restoration work was done. It has various family activities and recreation facilities from camping grounds to trail roads for horse and bike riding not forgetting a museum inside fort Stanton. Fort Stanton historical park is open all year long for tourists.
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