Actual photograph of the ghost of Byron T. Mills

To spend Halloween – or any other night – with the ghost of Byron T. Mills, contact the Plaza Hotel at (505) 425-3591 and ask to stay in Room 310!

The Plaza Hotel is home to one of the most-loved and active ghosts in Northeastern New Mexico, Byron T. Mills. A former owner of the hotel, Byron acted as town Mayor and as a territorial representative. Mills Avenue carries his name. In fact, his ego was so large that he named it after himself. He died in 1947, at the Elks Lodge, but still lives today in the room – 310 – that he loved.

Jesika, a young woman manning the hotel front desk shivered when I asked her about Byron T. She showed me a photograph kept behind the desk. The ghost’s room looks normal, looks wellkept, clean, tastefully appointed with a thick comforter and elegant drapes. And in one chair, at a small round table, a translucent man gestures, his profile caught in animated conversation. Byron T.

“He scares me!” she exclaimed. “He likes to bother women. People hear him walking in the room. Sometimes he locks the doors and makes noise. I don’t like the third floor at all.”

Click. My trusty camera attempted to capture the elusive, the memory of events that happened long before my birth. Click. Later I would discover than every photograph I took came out solid black, a trick, perhaps, of Byron T. Jesika led me up the stairs to the third floor. The air felt electric, alive. I quickly strode into room 310, and was struck by its normal look, its seemingly middle-class simplicity, its brightly lit beauty.

Step. Step. Step. I heard them, Byron T.’s footfalls, as I packed my camera into its bag and prepared to go. Step.

We only think we are alone. Byron T.’s footsteps ring in my ear, remind me that one day we, too, may walk the streets of Northeastern New Mexico, may shake our fists at the sleeping, at those who unknowingly still possess life.