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

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more