Gallup - History

David Gallup, paymaster for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, picked this spot in the high desert for a railroad camp and company headquarters in 1880. The following year, the newly emerging town was named Gallup and shortly another business took hold: coal mining. The railroad began carrying large daily loads of coal to electric power stations in the West. Gallup quickly found itself at the center of a busy trading industry, coordinating trading posts in the surrounding Indian territories with the "outside world" all over the continent.

Famous Route 66 started as a difficult dirt road that challenged its travelers with an endless line of mud holes in the rain. Officially named in 1926, Route 66 evolved into a major artery between the East and West in the 1930's. Linking the main streets of hundreds of small towns, it was often called "The Main Street of America."

With its increasing popularity, it wasn't long until Hollywood discovered Gallup in the 1940's. Red Rock State Park, east of town, served as an ideal backdrop featured in many Western movies. Although Gallup has become a quiet town once more, today's visitors will discover that Gallup is ideally situated for excursions by plane and car and has not lost its down-to-earth, laid-back lifestyle.    

=> what to do

Feature Article: Gallup, NM, by Gerhard Deffner

Page 1 ............... Main Page / Intro
Page 2 ............... Flying There

• Page 3 ............... History
  Page 4 ............... What to Do
  Page 5 ............... Where to Stay
  Page 6 ............... Where to Eat
  Page 7 ............... Transportation

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