Abandoned and Forgotten Communities of New Mexico

Across New Mexico, numerous small towns that once thrived along historic highways and railroad lines now sit abandoned.

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Across New Mexico, numerous small towns that once thrived along historic highways and railroad lines now sit abandoned, their quiet streets and weathered buildings bearing witness to the state’s changing economy and shifting transportation routes.

Endee

The Day brothers, John E. and George, along with Mr. Norris, established a ranch in the area of Endee, New Mexico, in the early 1880s. ⁵ They named it “ND” after their initials. A post office opened in 1886 and remained in operation until 1955.

Endee took its name from the ND ranch brand. ⁵ The original houses were constructed with poles and sod roofs, and the town became known for its rowdy cowboys and frequent gunfights. In the early 1900s, the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway crossed the region, loading cattle at its siding. Around the same time, the Endee Townsite Company, operated by W.L. Bateson as “Sole Agent,” promoted the town as “the center of agricultural and stock industries for 1,000 square miles of territory.”

In 1926, U.S. Route 66 was aligned through Endee, bringing a period of prosperity that lasted until 1952, when a new alignment bypassed the town to the north. ⁵

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Glenrio

Glenrio, formerly known as Rock Island, is a ghost town located along the former U.S. Route 66 in Deaf Smith County, Texas, and Quay County, New Mexico. It includes the Glenrio Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

The community was founded in 1903 as a railroad siding on the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway. Its name combines the Scots word glen (valley) with the Spanish rio (river). Originally a railroad town, the village was renamed from Rock Island to Glenrio in 1908. It began receiving motorists along the dusty Ozark Trail in 1917. Its earliest structures were adobe buildings, including the circa-1910 Angel House, located in New Mexico.

The Ozark Trail was incorporated into U.S. Route 66 on November 11, 1926. By the 1930s, Route 66 had become a paved, two-lane highway, locally served by several filling stations, a restaurant, and a motel. During this decade, the State Line Bar and motel were built in New Mexico because Deaf Smith County, Texas, was dry, while all fuel sales occurred in Texas due to New Mexico’s higher gasoline taxes. ¹ The railroad station was located in Texas, and the local post office, built around 1935, was in New Mexico. Three filling stations operated in New Mexico: the 1925 Broyles Mobil station, a 1935 Texaco, and the 1946 Ferguson gas station. Around 1945, a water tank and windmill were constructed in New Mexico.

The Joseph Brownlee House, originally built in Amarillo in 1930, was relocated to Glenrio in 1950. In 1951, Route 66 was widened through the community, and during the decade also saw the construction of a Texaco station (1950) and the Brownlee Diner/Little Juarez Café (1952) in Texas, both in the Art Moderne architectural style. ² Homer Ehresman’s family-run State Line Café and Gas Station, built in 1953, and the Texas Longhorn Motel, constructed in 1955 and closed in 1976, became notable “First Motel in Texas” / “Last Motel in Texas” landmarks.

The completion of Interstate 40 through the area in September 1973 caused a long-term decline of Glenrio. ²

These and other businesses continued to operate along the state line until Interstate 40 bypassed Glenrio in September 1973.

Border Disputes

A long-standing dispute exists over which state the eastern part of Glenrio legally belongs to. The Texas–New Mexico border was intended to follow the 103rd meridian, but an 1859 survey misplaced the line 2.29 to 3.77 miles (3.69 to 6.07 km) west, making Texline, Farwell, Bledsoe, Bronco, and eastern Glenrio appear to lie within Texas. By contrast, New Mexico’s border with Oklahoma was correctly surveyed. New Mexico’s draft constitution of 1910 reaffirmed the intended 103rd meridian boundary. The disputed strip, which stretches hundreds of miles and includes parts of the Permian Basin oilfields, prompted the New Mexico Senate to pass a bill authorizing a Supreme Court lawsuit against Texas; however, the bill did not become law. Today, the land in the strip—including the eastern part of Glenrio—is governed, taxed, and surveyed as part of Texas. ³

In Popular Culture

Portions of The Grapes of Wrath (1940) were filmed in Glenrio. ⁴ An abandoned building, the “Glenn Rio Motel,” inspired the depiction of Radiator Springs in the 2006 animated film Cars, where the architectural design of Glenrio’s Little Juarez Café is used for a vacant, abandoned structure that later becomes the Racing Museum. The opening scene of the 2018 film Daylight’s End was also filmed in Glenrio.

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San Jon

San Jon is a quiet community along the former U.S. Route 66 in Quay County, New Mexico. The village was established in 1902 and expanded after the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway arrived in 1904. It became a local commercial hub and a stop along U.S. Route 66, with businesses catering to travelers, including service stations, cafés, and motels. The completion of Interstate 40 in 1981 bypassed the community, causing a sharp economic decline and the closure of most of those businesses.

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Sources

1. “Glenrio Historic District—Route 66: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary.” U.S. National Park Service.
2. Burton, Josh. “Glenrio Resurrected.” Amarillo Globe-News, 1 Apr. 2007.
3. Daniel Gertson. “Border War Brewing?” KBTX.
4. Baker, T. Lindsay. More Ghost Towns of Texas. 1st ed., University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. ISBN 9780806137247.
5. “Endee.” The Route 66 Blog.