Ghost Towns West of Tucumcari, New Mexico - Montoya, Newkirk and Cuervo

NEW MEXICO LEGENDS

Ghost Towns Beyond Tucumcari

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As you head out of Tucumcari on old Route 66, the highway parallels the railroad through a combination of cultivated fields and prairies filled with yucca and bunch grass. Sandstone outcroppings and rock ridges can be glimpsed among the cattle grazing in the pastures. Some 22 miles later you will reach the defunct village of Montoya.

Montoya

As you enter the ghost town of Montoya you will pass by an old boot hill cemetery on your left. Montoya was born as a loading point for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1902, but even before the steam engine pushed through, there were several villagers living at this place that they then called Roundtree.

Still standing the test of time, you will see an old two story rock house, built by Sylvan R. Hendren and Maria Ignacia Ulibarri Hendren. The Hendren's Great Grand Daughter, Ramona Taylor, tells us that as with many pioneering couples of the time, her great grandparents helped settle the territory of New Mexico. Taylor says the old two story stone structure is a four room house affectionately called "Casa Alta" which means "tall/high house." The living room and kitchen are the two rooms on the first level, with two large bedrooms on the second level, and a large cistern behind the house. (updated July, 2011)

Old Stone House in the ghost town of Montoya,

New Mexico, December, 2004, Kathy Weiser

A ghost building in Montoya, December 2004,

Kathy Weiser.

When Route 66 pushed through, more services were made available to those early travelers including Richardson’s Store and Sinclair Station. Opening in 1925, this old store continued to do business until the mid 1970's when its owner passed away. During the Mother Road's heyday, it was a popular stopping point. You can still see what remains of this old mercantile beyond a chain link fence, where the old gas pumps stand regally speaking of better times.

This old town also sports a building with the words "Cold Beer” painted across its side. Whether it was a tavern or a store is unknown today, but for sure, there hasn’t been any cold beer served here in a long, long time.

West of Montoya, the old highway rides the plains dotted with juniper and mesquite, for the next 12 miles, until your reach yet another ghost town – Newkirk. It is along this stretch of the old highway that you will pass over what was the Goodnight-Loving Trail where cowboys once herded thousands of head of cattle northward to markets in Denver, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Continued Next Page

Richard's Store once did a thriving business along

Route 66, December, 2004, Kathy Weiser.

If only this old house could tell it's stories of Montoya's

past. December 2004, Kathy Weiser.

No more cold beer served here, December, 2004,

Kathy Weiser.

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