Skip to main content

Old Town Albuquerque and Old US 66

One of the best things about our blog is having the chance to resurrect or complete unfinished pages/projects from the old gribblenation site.  My 2007 trip to New Mexico is an example.  This is the first of a series of posts covering that enjoyable trip.

I landed in New Mexico on a spectacular October afternoon.  Since I had some time to kill before checking in Albuquerque, I headed south a little bit to get myself accustomed to the New Mexico terrain.  The inn I stayed at was the Casas de Suenos - "The House of Dreams" - which is a former artist colony right on the edge of Old Town Albuquerque.  After checking in and exploring the grounds of what I would call home for the next four nights (a photo of my casita is below), I went across the street into Old Town.

 
Old Town, also known as Old Town Plaza, dates back to the city's founding by Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdez in 1706.  Old Town covers approximately ten city blocks and includes numerous restaurants, shops, art galleries, museums, and small bed & breakfasts.  Amazingly, Old Town did not become a part of the City of Albuquerque (referred to by some as 'New Town') until the 1940s.

 
Like many Spanish settlements of the day, Old Town Albuquerque features a central town plaza and church.  The plaza - which is the center of activity throughout the day - features a gazebo, replica cannons from an 1862 Civil War battle, but also street vendors and musicians.  On this Monday afternoon, a local mariachi band was entertaining visitors to the Old Town Plaza.


The centerpiece of Old Town Albuquerque is San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church.  For over three centuries, San Felipe has been part of the Albuquerque community.  The current church building with five-foot thick adobe walls has stood since 1793.  The beautiful church - which saw the addition of two bell towers in 1861 - is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 




After spending the afternoon in Old Town, it was time to get something to eat.  So why not explore Central Avenue, which is an old alignment of US 66.  Albuquerque's Central Ave. is home to a lengthy section of the old Mother Road.  East of town, Central Avenue still has the feel of its Route 66 days.  After passing the campus of the University of New Mexico, six lanes of old 66 head east towards the Sandia Mountains.  Along the way is a tapestry of neon signs, vintage motels, gas stations, and restaurants that give modern-day travelers a taste of what Route 66 was like in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. 
 

Of course, at many places along Central, Route 66 is the theme.  This may be the most apparent at none other than a little restaurant called the 66 Diner.  The diner, which includes numerous artifacts from the glory days of Route 66, is a popular stop for tourists, Route 66 enthusiasts, locals, along with college students at UNM.  The 66 Diner is a step back in time, and you can't go wrong with the malts, burgers, and sandwiches.  (Some of which include the extra kick of green chile peppers).
 
After dinner, I headed back to Old Town and retired for the evening, and prepared for a very eventful Tuesday.

All photos taken by post author - October 2007.

Site Navigation:


  • 2008 - Originally published to gribblenation.com
  • February 18, 2019 - page moved to gribblenation.net
  • October 2, 2022 - added Route 66 navigation and cleaned up spelling/grammar.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trimmer Springs Road (Fresno County)

Trimmer Springs Road is an approximately forty-mile rural highway located in Fresno County.  The corridor begins near in California State Route 180 in Centerville and extends to Blackrock Road at the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada range near the Pacific Gas & Electric Company town of Balch Camp. The roadway is named after the former Trimmer Springs Resort and was originally constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.  Trimmer Springs Road was heavily modified and elongated after construction of Pine Flat Dam broke ground in 1947.   Part 1; the history of Trimmer Springs Road Much of the original alignment of Trimmer Springs Road was constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.   The  Kings River Lumber Company  had been established in 1888 in the form of a 30,000-acre purchase of forest lands in Converse Basin.  This purchase lied immediately west of Grant Grove and came to be known as "Millwood."  The co...

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.   In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.   The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...

The Pollasky Bridge

The Pollasky Bridge near modern day Friant is a ruined highway bridge which was completed during early 1906 as part of the Fresno-Fresno Flats Road.  The structure is one of the oldest known arch concrete spans to have been constructed in California.  The bridge briefly carried California State Route 41 following the destruction of the Lanes Bridge in 1940.  The Pollasky Bridge itself was destroyed by flooding during 1951, but the ruins can still be found on the Madera County side of the San Joaquin River.   Pictured as the blog cover is the Pollasky Bridge as it was featured in the 1913 book "The Concrete Bridge."  The structure can be seen crossing the San Joaquin River near Friant below on the 1922 United States Geological Survey Map.   Part 1; the history of the Pollasky Bridge The Pollasky Bridge site is near modern day Friant of Fresno County.  The community of Friant was established as Converse Ferry during 1852 on the San Joaquin Rive...