[HOME] [WESTERN AMERICANA GALLERY]  [ROUTE 66 HOME]   [ROUTE 66 WEST]   [ROUTE 66 EAST]

Texas Route 66

Glenrio
Border Ghost

Texas Route 66

 

Glenrio is a true Route 66 Ghost...

Glenrio, Ghostly Border Town

When the old highway was bypassed so was Glenrio. It seemed to have shriveled up and blown away in the hot Texas Panhandle winds. Today Glenrio is a town haunted by the ghosts of its former glory. The old Motel, once advertised as the first in Texas and the last in Texas, is weed choked and slowly returning to the elements. Its once bright sign now broken, with pieces scattered on the ground.

The old Motel, once advertised as the "First in Texas and the Last in Texas", is weed choked and slowly returning to the elements. Its once bright sign now broken, with pieces scattered on the ground.

First and Last Motel in Texas

 

Glenrio Cafe

The quaint cafe is silent too, its paint peeled and sandblasted by the elements. The gas stations are mere shells of their former selves, and the post office hasn't received mail in decades. Glenrio is dead, except for the lonely dogs that wander its silent streets. Photo opportunities abound in this highway ghost town and it is a fine place to stop and explore, to reflect on the passing of time, and wonder what the future holds for this silent sentinel of Route 66.
Glenrio sits right on the border of Texas and New Mexico and was founded in 1903 when the old Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad came through here. The station was located in Glenrio,Texas, but most of the businesses, including the post office, were located in Glenrio, New Mexico. Jack D. Rittenhouse in his 1946 "A Guide Book to Highway 66" describes Glenrio as a town of 84 people with a store and gas station but no tourist facilities. Evidently the motel was built after Rittenhouse came through in 1946.

Glenrio Gas Station

Glenrio Water Tank is Empty Now

Now that you've arrived at Glenrio, all I can say is welcome to New Mexico if you are traveling west or welcome to Texas if you are going east.

Glenrio truly was the first and last town
in two states once!

 

Photographs Taken September 2002

Click on an area or city of Route 66 on the map below to take a cyber tour of that section of the  Mother Road

Travel Cyber Route 66 in Texas

Go West on Route 66

NAVIGATION NOTE: Buckle up and hold on to your mouse! These pages are arranged like the map above, from the western state border to the eastern state border. I have set up this site as if you were traveling from EAST to WEST, much like the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. You can click on the Route 66 shields to "travel" the Mother Road in either direction though. Or you can select any shield below to take you to that specific state.

Go East on Route 66

To New Mexico
Route 66

To Route 66 Midpoint

 

Select the Route 66 State to Visit

[ROAD WANDERER HOME] [ROUTE 66 HOME] [WESTERN AMERICANA GALLERY]


 

© Copyright 2003  GRandall Web Design Service