A onetime New Mexico military base town known as Fort Wingate recently hit the market for $11 million, as first reported by the New York Post. Founded way back in the 1800s, the expansive outpost was once home to future generals (like Douglas MacArthur and John J. Pershing), as well as Buffalo Soldiers and Navajo code talkers. Situated about 130 miles west of Albuquerque, off historic Route 66 in McKinley County near the city of Gallup, it includes a trading post, post office, gas station, rental homes and more.
Abandoned in the early 1900s, Fort Wingate was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and officially shuttered in 1993. Listing agent Mark Price of Realty One Group Concierge told the Post that the town has been in the owner’s family since 1946. “With all the current rentals and commercial operations in the town, the owner has been managing the town for decades,” Price said. “He is the fire chief, the police and the landlord. It’s time to pass on the baton.”
Spanning 18 acres — all surrounded by jaw-dropping scenery displaying wide-open spaces, mesas and red rock formations — the hamlet comes with the original trading post, a café and convenience store, post office, gas station, maintenance shop and numerous storage buildings. Especially standing out are an RV parking lot with 80 hookups and 27 fully occupied rental properties; and a school is just 250 feet away from the town.
There also are hundreds of ruins created by the native Navajo Nation and Zuni tribes, along with parade grounds, a circa-1883 adobe clubhouse, barracks, officers’ quarters from the early 1900s and a military cemetery. Historic artifacts — such as bullets, coins and even an old baseball mitt left behind when the military base was decommissioned — are included as part of the sale as well.
Price told the Post that some film studios have already shown interest in using the place as a movie set, while maintaining the RVs and residential units. The new owner could do away with the current residents, he added, but the owner is ideally looking for someone that would want to take over the businesses and rentals.
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Image Credit: Zillow