| Monday morning I decided to get some breakfast instead of just some coffee. The Kix on 66 used to be a Denny's located next to the old Apache Motel. |
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| Not many people there shortly after opening. |
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| Route 66 along this stretch was replaced by Interstate 40. However there are some frontage roads that may have been the original road that run parallel to the interstate that can be driven to access some of the old places that used to be along the old Mother Road. |
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| Montoya is one of the towns that is mostly gone now. |
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| This was probably a roadside store or bar or something way back when. It's hard to see but there is a faded "Cold Beer" painted on the side of one of the walls. |
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| A little further along is Newkirk. |
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| Looks like this might have been a gas station. |
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| The population of Newkirk as of the 2010 census is seven. |
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| The last stop on this stretch of Route 66 for now is Santa Rosa. |
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| More wonderful old signs and abandoned businesses. |
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| But from here we will turn south on US 54 in search of more old towns. |
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| Not much traffic in the middle of nowhere at nine in the morning, |
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| This isn't much of anything. It's just an old broken down building on the road to... |
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| ...Duran. Duran is not a ghost town per se. It does still have a population of 35 people. But there are a lot of old buildings no longer in use. This might not be one of them though. The fire hall looks old, but the garage doors look fairly new and that antenna looks functional. |
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| On the other hand, whatever this was isn't anymore. |
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| There are a few buildings in Duran that tourists tend to stop and see. The old San Juan Bautista Church has been around 1910, which I realize is not a long time when compared to other churches in the country. Hell, when matched against old churches I've seen in Europe, this one's a pup. But given that the town was only established in 1902, ten years before New Mexico was admitted as a state into the union, it's old. |
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| This is one of the two abandoned
buildings that are probably the most photographed in town. According
to the New Mexico Tourism website, it used to be a general store and
hotel. An interesting story about this place is that in 1921 it was the location of the murder of the owner, a Lebanese immigrant called Anton Coury. Four men were caught and convicted of the crime. Three were hanged July 28, 1922, with the fourth on April 6, 1923. This was the last legal hanging in New Mexico. |
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| The other building is the William Hindi store. The Hindis were also Lebanese. |
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| Turning off of US 54, this seemingly rarely used road leads to... |
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| ...the town of Ancho. The Ancho Brick Plant was established after the arrival of the railway in 1901 and closed in 1926. This was once the train station, which closed in 1959. |
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 Looks like these
were homes at one point. |
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| The Ancho School closed in 1955. |
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| Yesterday it was cows. Today, a donkey. |
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| The White Oaks Schoolhouse, built in the late 1890's, is now a museum. It's only open on weekends. |
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| The girls' outhouse. |
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| Just read the sign for information about the safe. Some of it isn't readable, though. Just to complete the sentence, the thing was blown up in early 1920's. |
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| Another old building in White Oaks. It was probably a general store from the look of it. |
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