Bypassed but Not Forgotten: Tucumcari’s Route 66 Story

Explore the historic town of Tucumcari, New Mexico, along the legendary U.S. Route 66.

The previous day, we had finished a long drive across Arizona and New Mexico, following the line of the old Mother Road. By morning, we found ourselves in Tucumcari, waking at the Roadrunner Lodge Motel, a roadside property carefully restored to its mid-century look, a reminder of when U.S. Route 66 was alive.

Tucumcari’s beginnings were tied not to the highway, but to the railroad. Around 1901, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad established a stop here, and what had been a small settlement near Tucumcari Mountain quickly grew into a railroad and ranching town. The mountain’s solitary form became both namesake and landmark, guiding travelers across the plains. Agriculture, cattle, and rail shipping defined the early decades, but the coming of Route 66 in 1926 would reshape the town more than anything else.

As America’s great highway culture matured, Tucumcari leaned into its role as a major stopover. Motels sprang up in long rows, diners promised home-style meals at all hours, and billboards across the desert proclaimed “Tucumcari Tonight!” to lure motorists off the road. By mid-century, the town claimed more than 2,000 motel rooms, catering to travelers headed west toward Albuquerque or east toward Amarillo. It was a classic Route 66 community, dependent almost entirely on the rhythm of passing traffic.

Prosperity proved fragile. In 1981, Interstate 40 bypassed the center of Tucumcari, carrying motorists swiftly around rather than through. The town’s lifeblood, steady, seasonal traffic, dried up almost overnight. Businesses shuttered, neon signs dimmed, and the long rows of motels that had been built to house thousands of travelers emptied. The decline mirrored that of many other towns along the bypassed highway, but the effects were especially visible in Tucumcari.

Today, the remnants of that roadside economy remain scattered across the landscape. Some motels sit abandoned, their signs leaning and paint faded by desert sun. Restaurants with intact but weathered booths wait behind locked doors. The town is a living catalogue of Route 66’s rise and fall, where preservation and neglect stand side by side.

Not all has been lost. Restoration efforts in recent years have brought new attention to Tucumcari’s roadside heritage. The Roadrunner Lodge, where we stayed, is one example. It was carefully rehabilitated to match its mid-century design while offering modern comfort. Other projects, from mural painting across town to the preservation of neon signs, show a local effort to reclaim pride in the town’s history.

For travelers on the slower road, Tucumcari remains a place worth pausing. Stepping out of the Roadrunner that morning, the desert light spilling across faded neon and quiet streets, it felt clear: this was a crossroads between the past and the future, where the spirit of Route 66 still lingers in the air..

Downtown Walking Tour

We began our walking tour of Tucumcari’s historic core along Main Street, where some of the town’s earliest landmarks still stand—many weathered, some reborn, and others only partially surviving.

At the corner of West Main and North 2nd Street rose the former First National Bank building. Once a symbol of Tucumcari’s prosperity, it also housed the Elk Rooms upstairs, offering monthly lodging to locals and travelers. The bank began as the Exchange Bank of Tucumcari before adopting its new name in 1902. H.B. Jones, who had earlier founded the First National Bank of Santa Rosa, shifted his operations here as the railroad made Tucumcari the region’s economic center. By 1910, Jones had purchased controlling interest in the bank, serving as its president until his death in 1941.

Today, the surviving portion of the building is a shadow of its former self, stripped of ornamentation and partially collapsed.

Caddy-corner stood another structure that once housed the First National Bank during its tenure. Though vacant, its distinctive terra cotta inlays still caught the light, a reminder of the craftsmanship that marked Tucumcari’s more prosperous years.

Heading south, we reached the Masonic Lodge No. 27, A.F. & A.M., at 201 South 2nd Street. Still active and well-maintained, the lodge retained its vintage neon sign, a small but distinctive reminder of mid-century Tucumcari’s character.

Just a block farther, at Center and South 2nd Streets, is the Odeon Theatre. Built in 1937 in a modest Art Deco style, it was once celebrated as the only air-conditioned building in town during World War II. Closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Odeon was later renovated and reopened as a family-owned, single-screen movie house. With updated projectors and a refreshed lobby, it continues to serve as a beloved community gathering place.

From there, we headed toward the Rock Island–Southern Pacific Train Station. The first depot was built here in 1901, but Tucumcari’s growth and railroad expansion soon required more. In 1926, a larger Mission Revival–style station was constructed with a waiting room, ticket office, and baggage area. Premier trains such as the Golden State, Imperial, and Cherokee stopped here until passenger service ended in 1968. The station remained in railroad use until the Rock Island’s bankruptcy in 1980. Donated to the city by Union Pacific in 2002, the building was restored and reopened in 2015 as the Tucumcari Railroad Museum.

Along Route 66 stood the Roadrunner Lodge Motel, where we had stayed the night. Its story began in 1947 as La Plaza Court, a 15-room motor court with garages beside each unit. The property was even listed in the 1952 edition of the Green Book guide for Black travelers. In 1964, Agnes Leatherwood built Leatherwood Manor next door, which operated independently for two decades. In 1985, the two properties were joined, and the La Plaza lobby was transformed into multi-room suites. The motel continued under different names until closing in 2012. Purchased in 2014, it was revived as the Roadrunner Lodge, saving it from abandonment.

Across the street is the Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant, now in decline. It began as Hall’s Restaurant in 1965, serving hickory-smoked chicken, steaks, Mexican food, and pizza, before being converted into a Chinese restaurant.

Nearby, Tepee Curios beckoned with its concrete tepee entrance. Dating to 1944, it began as a Gulf gas station, later expanded to include groceries and curios. The gas pumps were removed around 1960, but the store endured as a Route 66 landmark. Its neon sign, added about 1960, was restored in 2003 as part of New Mexico’s Neon Sign Restoration Project.

A short walk farther along Route 66 brings us to the Motel Safari, which opened in 1959 as a Best Western Crown Motel. Designed by Chester Dohrer in the futuristic “Googie” or “Doo Wop” style, many original features remain: a playful geometric sign, stacked and oozing brickwork, patterned cinder blocks, and metal cylinders that glow at night. Even the name reflects the spirit of the era: “Motel” for the motor hotel, and “Safari” for the long journey west.

After the Dohrers’ brief ownership, Ronald and Arlene Frey ran the property for many years, raising five children on-site while establishing the Safari as one of Tucumcari’s most popular lodgings. The Best Western crown was removed from the sign in 1962 and replaced by Clyde the Camel. Later owners struggled to maintain the business, and by the mid-2000s, the motel had fallen into disrepair, a fate shared by many Route 66 properties. In 2007, Richard and Gail Talley purchased it and began restoration, followed by further renovations under Route 66 enthusiast Larry Smith in 2017, before the property was acquired by Rich Havlik.

The Safari is one of two motels in Tucumcari built by Chester Dohrer; the other was the Aruba Motel. Today, it stands fully restored and features two distinctive suites: the Rockabilly Suite, honoring singer Wanda Jackson, its inaugural guest, with memorabilia from visiting musicians, and the Rawhide Suite, paying tribute to the western TV series filmed nearby, starring Clint Eastwood and local actor Paul Brinegar. Together, they capture the blend of popular culture, roadside architecture, and local history that defines Tucumcari’s Route 66 corridor.

The Americana Motel came next. When the Crotty family opened it in 1935, it was once known as the State Motor Lodge, with garages beside its rooms. Later, it was renamed the Desert Air Motel, and it became part of the Whiting Brothers chain in the 1950s before taking on its current name.

Nearby was La Cita, first opened at the corner of South 1st Street in 1940 and moved across Route 66 in 1961. The restaurant gained national attention when food critic Duncan Hines featured it in his Adventures in Good Eating guide. It closed in 2004 but reopened two years later.

Its name, meaning “the appointment,” speaks to its reputation as a reliable stop, though no reservation has ever been needed to enjoy a meal here.

Not every sign revealed its history. One bore only a temporary canvas for the New Mexico Property Group, its earlier business forgotten.

On the next block, we passed the former Pow Wow Restaurant and Lounge, once part of the larger Pow Wow Inn. During its peak as a Best Western property, it was one of Tucumcari’s premier stops, offering 90 guest rooms, a heated swimming pool, and golfing privileges at a nearby country club.

The inn’s growth began with Bettie Ditto, who inherited her late father’s nine-unit Lins Motor Court and arrived in Tucumcari in 1955 with her children. In 1959, she expanded the property—renaming the Lazy L Motel and adding 30 rooms and a restaurant to create the Congress Inn. Over time, the complex evolved into the 92-unit Best Western Pow Wow Inn, Restaurant, and Lizard Lounge, spanning several buildings.

Today, much of the property lies abandoned. The swimming pool has been filled in, and the country club partnership no longer exists, leaving only echoes of its once-prominent presence along Route 66.

The Westerner Drive Inn, which opened in 1949 and closed around 2000 before being demolished, was located at Route 66 and South 11th Street.

The Ranch House Café followed, opened in 1952 by Pearl and Dugan Barnett with the motto “Good Food Always—Always Good Food.” It was among the first in Tucumcari to offer curbside service.

Nearby, the Buckaroo Motel, operated by E.J. and Ruby Brown, promised excellent beds, tiled baths, kitchenettes, and televisions, a modern offering for travelers of the 1950s.

On the town’s west end once stood the Sheraton Motor Inn, built in the 1970s with 81 rooms, dining and banquet facilities, and a cocktail lounge. Later known as the Familia Motel, Tucumcari Inn, and Payless Inns, it was destroyed by fire in September 2014.

Back in town, the Zia Club displayed a mural featuring the roadrunner and state flag. The design dates to a 1923 competition won by Reba Mera, whose red Zia on a yellow field became New Mexico’s official flag in 1925. The building itself once housed Cooper’s Cleaners.

On Tucumcari’s eastern side, the signs of decline become more apparent. The Sahara Sands Motel and Restaurant, built in 1959 by the Whittington family, was once a prominent roadside stop. The Whittingtons were experienced in hospitality, having also operated the Golden W Motel, built in 1953, and the now-demolished Pony Soldier Motel from 1964. Its striking neon sign was salvaged from a namesake motel in Amarillo that was being rebranded.

Over time, the property changed hands and identities, later operating as the Friends Inn. Today, the motel itself sits abandoned, though the former restaurant has been repurposed as Loretta’s Burrito Hut, keeping a small piece of the site active along Route 66.

Across the street, Boulevard Cleaners stood out with its 20-foot neon “Wash Lady” sign. Opened by the Lu brothers in 1952, it was rebranded as Boulevard Cleaners and Laundromat in 1999.

Other sites carried quieter stories. The Family Vision Care Clinic was once Ayers Steak House.

The Trails West Lounge, formerly the Orbit Lounge, was a grocery store before becoming a bar and liquor store. In the early 1960s, it took on a Googie-style facade, and Clint Eastwood was said to have visited during the 1959 filming of Rawhide.

Continuing our tour, we arrive at one of Tucumcari’s most iconic landmarks: the Blue Swallow Motel. Originally opened in 1941 by W.A. Huggins as the Blue Swallow Court & Café, the property has long embodied the town’s spirit of hospitality, even after the café itself closed. In the 1950s, ownership passed to Floyd Redman, who gave it to his wife Lillian. She added the now-famous neon sign in 1960—a roadside icon photographed countless times over the decades. Recognized for its historic significance, the motel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, and in 2011, Kevin and Nancy Mueller assumed ownership, continuing its careful preservation.

The Blue Swallow sign proudly advertises “100% Refrigerated Air” and “TV,” markers of mid-century luxury. Even more remarkable, the motel retains its individual carports next to each guest room, a rare feature along Route 66 today. With its neon glow and vintage charm, the Blue Swallow remains one of the Mother Road’s most beloved and instantly recognizable stops.

Then there was the sign for “Outlaw Tattoo,” which once marked the location of a drive-in liquor store that has long since disappeared.

Continuing along Route 66, we reached the Palomino Motel, which opened in 1953 with 20 guest rooms arranged in a U-shaped layout and a small office at the center. Unusually for its time, the rooms included attached garages, offering travelers shelter from rain or snow. By the 1960s, those garages had been converted into an additional 10 rooms, and a canopy was added over the lobby driveway to modernize the property’s appearance.

Originally owned by James and Gladys Hyde, the motel changed hands several times. Postcards from the era indicate that Klem and Phyllis Miller managed it in the early 1960s and again in the early 1970s, with Bill and Velma Jackson running it in between. The Millers were known locally for their adventurous spirit, often piloting a single-engine plane around the Southwest. Today, under the ownership of Warren Fischer since 2017, the Palomino continues to welcome travelers, while its original neon sign now resides at the Neonopolis Museum in Las Vegas.

Nearby, Del’s Restaurant, with its steer-topped sign, stands behind the generic Almara Inn sign. Del Akin opened it in 1956, and it has remained a staple through changes in ownership. Del operated it until 1978; the current owners bought it from their mother in 1995.

At the eastern edge of town, we came across the abandoned Tucumcari Inn, a once-bustling stop along Route 66. Originally built in 1964 as the Aruba Motel, it was one of two motels in Tucumcari developed by Chester Dohrer, who also constructed the nearby Motel Safari. The property started with 22 rooms and was later expanded to 28 and then 37, offering travelers combination tubs and showers, central refrigerated air, hot water heat, dial phones, televisions, and a heated swimming pool. A manager’s apartment and a Tiki-themed restaurant added to its mid-century charm.

For many years, the motel operated as a Best Western, a designation it held until 1999. Despite occasional remodels, the flow of guests slowed, and by around 2015 the property closed.

Next door had been Ken’s Ice Cream, opened in 1976 and once topped with a giant cone sign that was eventually stolen. After brief reopenings, it now stands abandoned.

Gas stations rounded out Tucumcari’s roadside story. The abandoned Vista station began as Swift’s Shell in the 1960s. An old Magnolia station nearby was likely a Texaco. On the west end of town, two Shell truck stops anchored the highway near Interstate 40.

As our tour came to an end, the story of Tucumcari unfolded. The town once thrived on the steady rhythm of trains and then the endless flow of Route 66 travelers. Hotels, cafes, theaters, and clubs sprang up to meet them, and many still stand, some restored, others left to fade. Tucumcari is a reminder of how communities grew around commerce and travel, even as it bypassed them.