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The first
passenger train arrived in Tucumcari on March 12, 1902
and before long there were four passenger trains arriving daily, two
from the east and two from the west.
One of the first
issues these hardy pioneers had to face was the lack of water. Initially, wells were dug into the hard ground, but failure to locate
water discouraged further drilling. Therefore, water had to be hauled
into the new settlement daily, costing the residents fifty cents a
barrel.
Some of the
first businesses to open in 1902 were the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel with
rooms for $2 a day, the Monarch Saloon, as well as many others baudy
taverns, a furniture store, a livery barn, a boarding house located at
First and Turner Streets, several mercantile stores, and the Exchange
Bank. Max Goldenberg's home was the first permanent home built
in Tucumcari, which contained
the post office.
The Elk Drug Store
was established in 1906. It was owned by Drug Store Cowboy Herman
Moncus, who collected a mammoth assortment of items more or less
relating to the history of the area. He hung his collection from the
ceiling of his drug store.
Within six years, the mesa lands
around
Tucumcari had been inundated
by homesteaders who had arrived in
Oklahoma
Indian Territory too late to get land. By 1907, there were 20
small towns scattered about
Tucumcari. Just three years
later, in 1910, there were over 70 businesses in Tucumcari, plus a school
system and several churches.
Primarily thriving
from the railroad and area ranching opportunities, the town continued
to prosper until the depression era. At that time, most of the
20 some small towns that surrounded the city were abandoned and
quickly reverted to cow pastures.
However, Tucumcari hung on with new
businesses created with the advent of
Route 66. And in 1940, when the South Canadian River was dammed, this created
some 60,000 acres of irrigated farmland. What were once cow
pastures soon became rich farmland, pulling Tucumcari out of its slump.
Continued Next Page
Greetings From Tucumcari,
New Mexico Postcard
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Route
66 Bumper Stickers
