From Moriarty
3. To Santa Fe via I-40 Heading West, from Moriarty
The small city of Moriarty, 25 miles east of Albuquerque, is named after an Irishman from Iowa who was one of the first farmers in the late 1800s to homestead in this valley, which had been earlier occupied by Pueblo Indians and then Spanish settlers. Drawn to the business opportunities promised by the arrival of the railroad in 1880, farmers established their homesteads near train stations. One station, named Moriarty in honor of the Iowa homesteader, soon became a bustling town. The Dust Bowl years hit Moriarty hard, but the town sprang back after Route 66 was rerouted in 1937 and the central business district was relocated from the train station to the new highway, which brought tourists and migrant workers through town.
Historic Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985 and no longer officially appears on the map, but driving I-40 across New Mexico takes you along stretches of the famous Mother Road, which John Steinbeck wrote about in his classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath.
Route 66 carried travelers across New Mexico from Tucumcari, the first major town after crossing the Texas border, to Santa Rosa. There, the original Route 66 took a northern loop through Santa Fe then headed back down to Albuquerque and on to Grants and Gallup before heading west into Arizona. In 1937, however, a realignment of Route 66 bypassed Santa Fe, taking travelers to Albuquerque along a similar route I-40 follows today.
The spirit of Route 66 lives on in Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Albuquerque and other towns and cities along the original route, where neon signs, souvenir shops, motels, restaurants and museums preserve its history. Traveling this nostalgic road has become popular again as visitors seek out its remaining portions to experience a beloved bygone era.
(Where I-25 intersects I-40, pick up Escort Note 1 for I-25 heading north)
The small city of Moriarty, 25 miles east of Albuquerque, is named after an Irishman from Iowa who was one of the first farmers in the late 1800s to homestead in this valley, which had been earlier occupied by Pueblo Indians and then Spanish settlers. Drawn to the business opportunities promised by the arrival of the railroad in 1880, farmers established their homesteads near train stations. One station, named Moriarty in honor of the Iowa homesteader, soon became a bustling town. The Dust Bowl years hit Moriarty hard, but the town sprang back after Route 66 was rerouted in 1937 and the central business district was relocated from the train station to the new highway, which brought tourists and migrant workers through town.
Historic Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985 and no longer officially appears on the map, but driving I-40 across New Mexico takes you along stretches of the famous Mother Road, which John Steinbeck wrote about in his classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath.
Route 66 carried travelers across New Mexico from Tucumcari, the first major town after crossing the Texas border, to Santa Rosa. There, the original Route 66 took a northern loop through Santa Fe then headed back down to Albuquerque and on to Grants and Gallup before heading west into Arizona. In 1937, however, a realignment of Route 66 bypassed Santa Fe, taking travelers to Albuquerque along a similar route I-40 follows today.
The spirit of Route 66 lives on in Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Albuquerque and other towns and cities along the original route, where neon signs, souvenir shops, motels, restaurants and museums preserve its history. Traveling this nostalgic road has become popular again as visitors seek out its remaining portions to experience a beloved bygone era.
(Where I-25 intersects I-40, pick up Escort Note 1 for I-25 heading north)