New Mexico Route 66 Maps

About New Mexico
Nickname:	Land of Enchantment
State Bird:	Roadrunner
State Flower:	Yucca Blossom
Capital:	Santa Fe
Miles of US 66:	380

Route 66 passed through the state of New Mexico east-west roughly along the path of what is now Interstate 40.

General

In the first several years of its existence, U.S. 66 followed a somewhat circuitous route which took it through the capital, Santa Fe. It was not until the 1930s that a more direct route was built which bypassed Santa Fe and entered Albuquerque from the east.

Below is reproduced a portion of a map of Route 66 in New Mexico dated 1956.

City Maps

Below are some Route 66-era detail maps of New Mexico cities:

Albuquerque

The map at right is undated, but evidence points to a 1940s publication date, not the least of which is the fact that the population figures given are taken from the 1940 U.S. Census.

Route 66 is clearly shown following the course of Central Avenue. After passing downtown, the road angles slightly to the right, parallelling the river. Just after the Albuquerque Country Club (depicted rather prominently), it makes a left turn to approach the crossing of the Rio Grande.

Note that the mapmaker saw no need to include anything on the west side of the river, nor to extend the map any farther east than the University of New Mexico campus.

The map at right, plus the two Albuquerque maps that follow, can be viewed as a detailed PDF file (306K).

The map at right is also undated, but it appears to have been drafted significantly later than the example above. Note that the cartographer now sees fit to extend the scope of his map both east and west—there is considerable development shown on the west side of the Rio Grande, as well as east of the university campus. The alignment of Route 66 appears unchanged.

This map is dated 1957. Note that mapping to the east has been extended even further than in the examples above. Although Route 66 appears virtually unchanged from the previous map, one can see that US 85 by this time has added an "ALT" route that follows N 2nd Street.