Skip to main content

Tucumcari Today

Image
By
Located in eastern New Mexico along historic US Route 66 is Tucumcari. Optimally located between Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Amarillo, Tucumcari was a common stopover for the night for weary travelers taking Route 66 during the highway's heyday. Billboards from miles away would advertise "Tucumcari Tonite" as a way to drum up business in the local economy.

Today, you can find a number of places around Tucumcari that feature old neon signs, Murals celebrating both the Western landscapes and the highway heritage of the area adorn the streets if Tucumcari, along with restored service stations and motor lodges. The murals were painted by the artist Doug Quarles, a former resident of Tucumcari, and you can view a map of the various murals around town here (PDF).

The Blue Swallow Motel has been serving travelers along historic US Route 66 since 1939.

The Teepee Curios was once a service station, but after the road was widened through Tucumcari, the business started selling curios to travelers along the Mother Road.
The Legendary Road mural features area landscapes, an ode to Route 66, and buffalo skulls.

An old Texaco station in downtown Tucumcari with a Route 66 mural.

Closeup of the mural.

Cruisin' the Mother Road mural at an old service station in Tucumcari.

The mural also includes an ode to "The Woman at the Pump", honoring women who did their share during World War II.

Kiva Motor Lodge on Historic US Route 66 in Tucumcari. The road is now a business loop route of I-40.

Apache Motel on Historic US Route 66 in Tucumcari.

I like how the Ken's Ice Cream sign fits in well with the other old signs found on Historic US Route 66 in Tucumcari.

Site Navigation:
Labels:
Location: Tucumcari, NM 88401, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

New Idria Road to the New Idria ghost town

By
New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County.  From Panoche Road to approximately 20.6 miles to the south the corridor is maintained as the paved San Benito County Road 107.  The remaining 0.9 miles to the New Idria ghost town are no longer maintained and have eroded into a high clearance dirt roadway.  Upon reaching New Idria the roadway continues south as Clear Creek Road which passes through the Bureau of Land Management owned Clear Creek Management Area.   The New Idria Mercury Mine claim was staked in 1854.  Following the theme set by New Almaden the community and mine of New Idria were named after the famous Slovenian mercury mining town of Idrija.  Following a slow start the mines of New Idria would boom and the community would reach a peak population of approximately 4,000 by 1880.  New Idria Road and Panoche Road were constructed to facilitate stage travel to San Juan Bautista...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Day in New York: The Biggest Road Map Ever!

By
The NY State Pavilion 22nd April 2014 was the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the 1964-65 World's Fair in what's now known as Flushing Meadows Corona Park. There has been an active effort to restore the New York State Pavilion . It's an iconic structure, and has the potential to be a great attraction. I'm not just talking out of my hat here: Today's viewing event drew thousands. One of the organisers said they expected like 800 people to show up. My DP and I went-and we got there early- the event started at 11.00am, and we got there at 10, and the line was incredible even then:  we waited on line to get a number for two hours and another hour and a half to get our number called. We left the park at 3.00 pm, and one of my friends from a band said he had gotten his number, and was waiting to get in and wondered if we were still about. This was at 4 pm. One of the features of the Pavilion is that the floor is a giant NY State roadmap by Rand McNally, and ...
Post a Comment
Read more