New life in a ghost town

(Quay County Sun) GLENRIO - This longtime Route 66 ghost town on the easternmost edge of Quay County suddenly appears to be getting its first business in more than 40 years. Subcontractors from the Amarillo area descended on the Texas-New Mexico border town last week to set up a temporary chain-link fence around the long-abandoned State Line Cafe and Texas Longhorn Motel complex - the latter known for its sign that stated it was the first or last motel in Texas - and remove their rotted roofs. Continued

Ghost Town Roundup: Glenrio, Texas - New Mexico

Glenrio straddles the Texas/New Mexico border, just south of I-40. It's a must for vintage Route 66 fans. Like all ghost towns, it ain't your property, so stay out of the buildings.

 

Glenrio: Broyles Mobil Gas Station

Old House 82

Glenrio, NM

Post Office: Glenrio, NM

State Line Bar and Motel, Glenrio, NM

Art Moderne in Glenrio, Texas

(NPS) ... A new cluster of businesses were built during the 1950s. Two of them, a Texaco Gas Station and a nearby diner, are of particular interest today. Both were designed with Art Moderne influence. Look for the curved vertical panels on top of the drive-thru bay of the station and for curved concrete corner walls and a curved metal canopy on the diner. Continued

Texas Longhorn Motel: Glenrio, Texas

Texas Longhorn Motel 2017

Texas Longhorn Motel 2004

Glenrio is not aging well. As you can see from the above two pictures, the Texas Longhorn Motel has lost more of its sign, a lot of shingles on the roof, and the roofing on the foyer. There's also more graffiti and a lot more No Trespassing signs, which seem to be largely ineffectual. It's still a charming little Route 66 ghost town, but if you have it on your bucket list, you'd best go sooner than later.

Abandoned Gas Stations, I-40, Glenrio, New Mexico

Route 66 and the other US Routes around the country are noted for vintage roadside architecture and abandoned buildings, but now the interstates are getting old enough to produce their own roadside archeology.
These abandoned service stations are not near as charming as those a few hundred yards away in Glenrio, on Route 66, in fact, they seem a little stark. Route 66 is about nostalgia for a time many of us never knew, interstates are of our own era, which will also end one day.