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The Ghost Town of Glenrio Across Two States
Right on the border of Texas and New Mexico at mile marker 373 sits Glenrio, a town frozen in time. From 1926 to 1973, it was a bustling stop for travelers on Route 66, but everything changed when Interstate 40 was built nearby.
Today, photographers and history lovers visit its empty streets to explore the past. The town’s 17 remaining structures are so special that in 2007, they were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Peculiar Drinking Laws
In 1955, Glenrio had a strange rule about alcohol: on the Texas side, you couldn’t sell any drinks within 300 feet of the state line. But just a few steps away in New Mexico, the Little Juarez Cafe served all kinds of alcohol, from whiskey to wine.
While the Texas Longhorn Cafe became famous for its chicken fried steak, the Little Juarez Cafe made amazing money from drinks. The Martinez family, who owned the cafe, earned about $2,000 every week just from selling alcohol.
First and Last Stop Motel
The State Line Bar and Motel used its unique location in a clever way. Their 15-room building advertised two different slogans depending on which way travelers were heading on Route 66.
Local artist Jim Ross painted their 1950s sign to say ‘Last Stop in Texas’ on one side and ‘First Stop in Texas’ on the other. The building itself sat right on the state line, so guests really could sleep in Texas while their cars were parked in New Mexico!
Hollywood Connection
In 1984, Glenrio starred in the movie ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ when director John Ford chose the abandoned Joseph Brownlee General Store as a filming location. The old building’s weathered walls and dusty windows perfectly showed what life was like during the Great Depression.
The town’s main street and old Texaco gas station became important backgrounds in many scenes. For three exciting weeks, more than 100 movie extras and period-correct vehicles brought life back to the quiet town.
Post Office Predicament
The Glenrio post office, built in 1935 for $1,200, had to handle mail from both Amarillo, Texas and Tucumcari, New Mexico. Postmaster Homer Green kept busy managing two sets of records and dealing with about 500 pieces of mail every day.
Sometimes, when the two states couldn’t agree on who should deliver certain mail, letters would get stuck for up to three days. The post office building itself kept switching states until 1950, when it finally settled on the Texas side.
Gas Station Price War
During the summer of 1952, three gas stations in Glenrio found a creative way to compete. Station owners Joe Brownlee and Frank Henderson put their gas pumps on wooden platforms with wheels so they could roll them across the state line.
They moved their pumps to whichever state had lower gas taxes, saving drivers up to 4 cents per gallon. This clever trick worked until 1953, when the Texas Highway Department said they had to stop or pay a $500 fine.
Railroad’s Double Identity
The Rock Island Railroad depot in Glenrio had to be two stations at once. Its 400-foot platform was ‘Glenrio, Texas’ on the east end and ‘Glenrio, New Mexico’ on the west end.
Workers had to be extra careful about marking cargo based on which end of the platform it came from. The station ran this way from 1926 to 1955, and though it’s gone now, you can still spot pieces of its concrete foundation among the prairie grass.
Tale of Two Schools
Glenrio’s students went to either Adrian Independent School District in Texas or San Jon Municipal Schools in New Mexico, even though they all lived in the same small town. This meant kids used different textbooks and learned different lessons depending on which side of Main Street they lived on.
The Johnson family had an especially unusual situation in 1947. Their siblings, Mary and Robert, went to different state schools even though they lived in the same house – all because their house straddled the state line!
Architectural Time Capsule
The State Line Motel, designed by architect Joseph Buxton in 1938, shows off a special style called Art Deco. Its streamlined moderne design includes curved corners and horizontal speed lines that made it stand out to passing drivers.
The building still has its original chrome-plated entrance and spots where neon lights once glowed. Even today, it remains one of the best examples of Route 66 architecture you can find in either Texas or New Mexico.
Livestock Inspection Dilemma
Ranchers moving cattle through Glenrio had to deal with two different health inspections and fees. Texas charged 25 cents per cow, while New Mexico only wanted 15 cents, but you had to pay both if you were crossing states.
Two veterinarians – Dr. James Thompson from Texas and Dr. Robert Martinez from New Mexico – finally worked together to make the process easier. They helped create a system where ranchers could get both inspections done without moving their cattle twice.
Census Controversy
In 1950, counting Glenrio’s residents turned into a complicated puzzle. Census takers Margaret Wilson and Carlos Sandoval struggled with houses that sat on both sides of the state line. They finally decided to count people based on which state their bedroom was in.
This meant some residents could officially move from Texas to New Mexico just by sleeping in a different room! When they finished counting, they found 30 people living on the Texas side and 44 in New Mexico.
Time Zone Trouble
Glenrio’s 84 residents in 1950 lived with a unique challenge: their town operated in two different time zones. Texas followed Central Time, while New Mexico used Mountain Time, creating what locals called ‘Glenrio Time.’
Businesses had to post both times on their signs, and people had to specify ‘Texas time’ or ‘New Mexico time’ when making plans. It got so confusing that in 1947, the town council made a special rule: all town meetings would use Texas time, no matter which side they were held on.
The post You Can Go from Texas to New Mexico By Walking Through a Doorway in This Route 66 Ghost Town appeared first on When In Your State.