Route 66

"So I heard you live near Route 66!!! 
  So when do we get to go visit Route 66?!!! "    

                             

Late this afternoon Voir talked me into a Sunday

evening drive. At first, I was just going to stop at this

overpass that is over Central Avenue on the west side,

but Voir suggested we keep going.

She wanted to see Route 66, not just the sign!

Route 66 was first commissioned in 1926.

The original placement of Route 66 through Albuquerque

was a north-south alignment that went through Santa Fe.

The original route up until 1937 is now known as 4th street in Albuquerque.

The route through Albuquerque after 1937 is Central Avenue.
http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/albuquerque/route-66/history/

We kept driving east, headed toward downtown Albuquerque.

Soon, we reached the Rio Grande bridge at Central.

It did not take long before we were driving through downtown

Albuquerque on Central Avenue.

The Kimo Theatre, which Voir saw on the postcard image,

is located at 5th and Central.

The Kimo Theatre was built and designed as a

"Pueblo Deco Picture Palace" in 1927.
The "Pueblo Deco" style is described as a short-lived

architectural style.

https://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/kimo/about-the-theatre

A fire in the 1960's created a substantial damage.

The Kimo fell into disrepair. It was saved and restored in 1977.

One street down is the only intersection of Route 66 in the US.

Central and 4th Street offers an unusual but unassuming perspective

of history.

Vintage Postcard
Eastbound Central at 4th Street

Eastbound Central and 4th

Westbound Central and 4th

2nd Street was a short distance away.

Westbound Central and 2nd

I drove down some side streets and found a new destination:

The Alvarado Transportation Center.

But first, a piece of history:

The Fred Harvey Alvarado Hotel was established in 1902

as a part of the Santa Fe Railroad.
It was torn down in the 1970's despite efforts to save it.

http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/albuquerque/history/modern-ancient/

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/trail_dust/trail-dust-once-grand-alvarado-hotel-now-a-fading-memory/article_cc3c2b3a-6b1a-594a-8c7e-b9fb69120f76.html

The Alvarado Transportation Center

is now the regional transit center for the railroad and bus services,

including local and long distance services.

In our detours down side streets,

we drove past the Albuquerque Convention Center

and the downtown public library main branch.

I had finished with my Sunday evening drive.

Voir had fallen asleep on the car seat. It was time to head home.

But you know Route 66. It keeps going and going.

We only visited a short portion of it,

but we still found a portion of Albuquerque's history.

 As a blogger confession, many of these photos were not taken

by me because I was driving. I relied on online photos

to supplement what we saw.