#230: Dined at Doc Martin's

Photo Credit: Sue Crawford

Well, like everything in Taos, there's a story there:

About Doc:

Dr. Thomas Paul (Doc) Martin, came to Taos in the 1890s and bought the largest of several adobe houses which at the time surrounded a small plaza. The plaza is now the Inn's lobby, complete with community well in the center. Doc himself was a popular man, well-regarded for his concern for people of Taos.

The ghost story (full article here):

After Doc Martin passed away, his wife Helen bought the neighboring adobes and, with help from doc's former patients, connected them all under one roof and opened "The Hotel Martin" in 1936. The hotel's name changed in the 1940s when it was bought by Sam and Mary Albright. But it was the property's first owner, Arthur Manby, the man who sold Doc Martin his home, who is the inn's most active spirit.

Taos natives are well acquainted with the tales of Manby's strange death. It seems after he sold the house to Doc Martin, Manby resided next door in what is now the Stables Art Gallery. One day, a few years after taking up his new residence, a headless body, presumed to be Arthur Manby, was found on the floor of Manby's home.

This home shares a kitchen wall with what is now Doc Martin's restaurant in the Taos Inn, and likewise this seems to be where a lot of phenomena occurs. Pots, pans and kitchen appliances have been known to fly from their resting places and crash unexpectedly on the floor.