TUCUMCARI/QUAY Tucumcari/ Quay County New Mexico Tonight, tomorrow or a lifetime! VISITOR GUIDE VISITOR Welcome & Greetings We welcome you to get your kicks in Tucumcari (pronounced TOO-kum-kair-ee), the Heart of the Mother road, nestled on Historic Route 66! Tucumcari has more than 1,200 motel rooms and great restaurants. You will find local motels and restaurants listed in the Community Guide at the back of this brochure. There are two lakes within half-hour drives, two golf courses, a world-class Dinosaur Museum, Historical Museum, a New Mexico Route 66 Museum and soon to be a Train Museum, and Legendary Route 66 motels. Don’t miss our National, State and Historic Scenic Byways, fabulous photo opportunities, beautiful murals, grand mesas, gorgeous sunsets, striking monuments, and many special events. Because we are “The Gateway to New Mexico” for travelers on I-40 and US 54, and the intersection of State highways 209 and 104, we invite you to stop a while and “Experience New Mexico” in Tucumcari. As a city with lots of travelers, we also have five RV Parks for your convenience. You will find them listed in the Community Guide at the back of this brochure. Don’t miss the Mesalands Community College Dinosaur Museum, a first-class museum housing the world’s largest collection of spectacular full-scale bronze dinosaur skeletons cast at our local foundry. Stop by the Tucumcari Historical Museum with its storytelling exhibits, and visit the nostalgic New Mexico Route 66 Museum located on the south side of our convention center. Get your picture taken in front of the Route 66 Memorial at the convention center or the world’s largest mural devoted to Route 66 in the U.S. Tour the town during the day to see other wonderful murals located all over the city; and, at night see the famous Route 66 neon signs. Soon you will be able to visit the New Mexico Railroad Museum located in the completely renovated Train Depot on North 2nd. Street. Take a trip to nearby Ute Lake or Conchas Lake State Parks and go picnicking, hiking, boating, water skiing, scuba diving, swimming, sailing, wind surfing and fishing for bass, walleye, catfish, perch and crappie. Travel along the numerous Scenic Byways to see the unique landscape and variety of wildlife, including herds of antelope and deer, flocks of wild turkey, geese and other rare birds. Experience everything Tucumcari has to offer tonight tomorrow, or a lifetime! Every effort was made to ensure accuracy in the information provided. The Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, Lodgers Tax Board and the publisher assume no responsibility or liability for errors, changes or omissions. Calendar There is always something happening in and around Tucumcari any time of the year! In addition to the events listed in the calendar below. The Quay Council for Arts and Humanities and the Eastern New Mexico Arts and Cultural Center sponsor events with diverse venues such as opera, TUCUMCARI/QUAY country, mariachis, musicals, classical, and dance, as well as various types of art classes and exhibits. Special events abound all year with concerts, dances, fairs, arts and crafts weekends, and festivals. The Heart of Route 66 opens its doors each year to many events built around themes, holidays, and the pioneer spirit of the west. If you would like more information about current events, call the Chamber of Commerce at 575 461-1694 or visit the calendar on the website at www.tucumcarinm.com. Annual Recurring Events: January Quay Day during the Legislative Session March Mesalands Community College Iron Pour Community Easter Egg Hunt Bull Test April Great American Cleanup – Keep Tucumcari Beautiful Friends of NRA Banquet Annual Chamber Banquet Mesalands Spring Rodeo May Eastern NM Bluegrass and Old Tyme Music Association Festival Rawhide Days June Annual Rotary Golf Tournament Rockabilly on the Route July July 4th Fireworks, Elks Lodge July 4th Festivities, parade, fireworks, barbeque; Logan and Ute Lake NM State 4-H Horse Show and Quay County 4-H Rodeo Farmers Market begins in July and ends in October St. Anne’s Catholic Church Festival CRC Championship Rough Stock Challenge August Rattler All School Reunion Quay County Fair Annual Rotary Golf Tournament NMSU Agricultural/Science Field Day September Nara Visa Cowboy Poetry Gathering MainStreet Annual “Fired Up” Festival Mesalands Community College National Intercollegiate Rodeo Mainstreet Annual FireUp Festival October First Baptist Church Fall Festival Red Ribbon Carnival Railroad Days November C.R.A.F.T. Christmas Fair Community Thanksgiving Dinner December Chamber of Commerce Annual Christmas Light Parade/ Lighting Contest Ongoing Senior Activities: Pioneer Senior Citizens, 523 S. 3rd St. M – F : Lunch from 12 – 1 / M & F: 8-Ball, Dominoes, Cards History & Facts The area around Tucumcari was very significant during the Triassic Period, known as the dawn of the dinosaurs. Dinosaur fossils and footprints are very common here. Fossils from Quay County are in museums around the country, including Mesalands Community College Dinosaur Museum. Tucumcari, originally called Six Shooter Siding, was a tent city at the foot of 4,999-foot high Tucumcari Mountain for the Rock Island Railroad. Tucumcari owes it beginnings to a snowstorm and the railroad. In 1900, two men stayed with A.D. Goldenburg during a horrible three-week snow storm. In return for Goldenburg’s hospitality, the two men told him that a railroad would soon be going through the area establishing a stop four miles from Goldenberg’s home. Goldenburg, his brother, Max and two other businessmen, purchased property where they felt the railroad would have to lay tracks. By 1902, four passenger trains, two mail trains and two freight trains made daily stops at the new city. By 1910, almost 70 businesses had been established. Soon you will be able to visit the Train Museum, which will be a part of the Historic Railroad Depot located downtown off of Main Street. When Route 66 was built through the town more than 75 years ago, the community began to thrive. The original “Main” street still runs through historic downtown Tucumcari. The local MainStreet Project is working hard on its goal to develop the historic downtown district as an arts and theater district centered around the historic train depot. Old Route 66 still winds its way through Tucumcari. The neon lit signs down the boulevard and the vintage motels and restaurants are just a few of the town’s landmarks which continue as living legacies. The murals on the walls and in the buildings around town are Tucumcari’s newest landmarks. LOCATION: Historic Route 66, I-40, US 54, NM 104 and 209, 35.16 degrees north of the equator and 103.72 degrees west of the prime meridian. POPULATION: Approximately 5,500 ELEVATION: 4,085 feet CLIMATE: Dry, mild climate with an average low of 38ºF in January to an average high of 97ºF in July. How Tucumcari Got its Name Tucumcari is thought to be among the oldest place names in New Mexico. While the real origin and meaning of Tucumcari in not known for certain, most historians and TUCUMCARI/QUAY linguists believe that it is derived from a Plains Indian term, meaning lookout point or signal peak. T.M. Pearce, an English professor at the University of New Mexico, researched the origin of Tucumcari. He believed that Elliot Canonge, an Oklahoma linguist, had the most convincing explanation. Canonge believed that the name comes from the Comanche tukamukaru which means to lie in wait for someone or something to approach. According to Felix Kowena, Canonge’s Comanche informant, Tucumcari Mountain was frequently used as a lookout by Comanche war parties. The mountain peak was an excellent lookout point since it can be seen from the Texas Panhandle more than 50 miles away. According to Herman Moncus, a local historian, another possible meaning for the word comes from the Jemez Indians who lived in the Rio Grande Valley, but hunted in eastern New Mexico before 1800. Moncus believed Tucumcari can be translated from the Jemez language to a place of the buffalo hunt. Moncus’ research determined that the Jemez Indians probably learned the name from other tribes and it could be a name surviving from the pre-Indian or paleo-Indian periods. On a less scholarly note, in 1907, a Methodist minister created a story about how the name evolved. The two finest warriors of an Apache tribe that made their home at the mountain met in combat to determine who would succeed their dying Chief Wautonomah. The survivor would also win the hand of the chief’s daughter, Kari. Tocom, the brave loved by Kari, was slain by Tonopah in the battle. Overcome with grief and rage, Kari seized her knife, killed Tonopah and took her own life. Heartbroken at this tragic turn of events, the old chief stabbed himself, crying out as he died, “Tocum-Kari, Tocom-Kari.” This story is what became known as “The Legend of Tucumcari.” Source: Robert Julyan, The Place Names of New Mexico, Revised Edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. Gil Hinshaw, Tucumcari: Gateway to the West (A History of Quay County). Attractions & Entertainment TUCUMCARI HISTORICAL MUSEUM The Tucumcari Historical Museum houses thousands of items located on three floors of a 1903 school house. Forty- five thousand square feet of native landscaped grounds paint a picture of early western life in this area from cowboy memorabilia to pioneer kitchens, from old-time nickelodeons to Indian artifacts dating back to 12,000 B.C. With four outdoor and indoor exhibits arranged in storytelling fashion and with care to details, visitors can walk away feeling that they fully know Tucumcari’s past.