Route 66

Scenic Route 66 in Albuquerque

In the mid-1920s, the early decades of America’s “Age of the Automobile,” the nation was developing a network of national highways. One of them, U.S. Route 66, stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles. During the Dust Bowl years, John Steinbeck published Grapes of Wrath, his classic novel about people migrating west to escape the worst […]

Explore Nob Hill’s Route 66 Neon

Back in the days when there was no dark sky movement, bright neon lights beckoned with promises of fun, excitement, and happy times. Route 66 (Central Avenue) enticed locals and tourists with an avenue of flashing neon signs for restaurants, motor courts, and other businesses. The rise of the automobile had a significant impact on […]

The Stunning Alvarado Hotel

One of Albuquerque’s most iconic buildings was razed in 1970, an event that rankles some buerquenos to this day. The Alvarado Hotel was one of the hotels operated in cooperation between the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and Fred Harvey. Harvey innovated how rail passengers were fed and created a network of eateries and […]

The Historic Rio Puerco Bridge

The Rio Puerco Bridge Where the bridge that was once part of Route 66 crosses Rio Puerco, about 20 miles west of Downtown Albuquerque, people have forded the usually dry but often flooded river for more than seven centuries — ever since people began migrating from the Chaco pueblos toward the Rio Grande. Of course, […]

Madonna of the Trail: Tribute to the Brave Pioneer Woman

This story about Route 66 — The Mother Road home of the Madonna of the Trail — begins in St. Louis, Missouri. It was there that the National Memorial Highway, Route 40, which began in Baltimore, joined up with Route 66, coursing south from Chicago. In 1912, the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned German-American […]

The Exciting Secret of Route 66 and Governor Arthur Hannett

Route 66 It’s called the “Mother Road,” a moniker applied to the historic U.S. highway labeled as Route 66. The highway stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles and traverses the entire 375-mile width of New Mexico. We like to think of Route 66 shooting straight across the state because that’s how Interstate 40 is today, […]