1937: In New Mexico, a Relocated Gas Station Becomes the First Roadside Business Along a Realigned Stretch of Route 66

Only about two years after being built and opened along U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in the settlement of Grants Station (now the city of Grants) in the west-central part of New Mexico, a Standard Oil Company gas station was moved approximately 29 miles (46.7 kilometers) southeast to the community of Thoreau in the state now officially nicknamed the Land of Enchantment.

This relocation occurred after a major realignment of US 66 – popularly known as Route 66 – resulted in the segment of this highway in Grants being shifted a few blocks away from the station. This facility was therefore moved to a realigned section of this highway in Thoreau with the hope that there would be a strong and steady flow of Route 66 clientele stopping at the station in its new location for fuel and other services.

This station, which was operated by a mechanic named Joe Anderson, became the first roadside business along that newly formed portion of Route 66. Starting in the late 1940s, a Texas-born mechanic and World War II military veteran named Roy T. Herman began working at the station. He ended up purchasing the station from Anderson in 1950 and went on to become its longtime owner.

The station remained in service along that stretch of Route 66 (now part of State Road 122 [NM 122]) until 1963, when Herman moved the structure 200 yards (182.9 meters) further west on the highway. It was at this time that he stopped providing fuel and instead began using the facility for automobile repairs only instead.

Roy T. Herman’s Garage and Service Station, as it is now called, is still around today and has gained renown as one of the oldest surviving stations to have served those traveling on Route 66 in New Mexico. As shown in the accompanying photo, this station still has three vintage gas pumps from the 1940s and a “Herman’s Garage” sign dating back to the 1950s. The station was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1993.

Photo Credit: National Park Service

For more information on Roy T. Herman’s Garage and Service Station, please check out  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_T._Herman’s_Garage_and_Service_Station and  https://www.nps.gov/places/roy-t-hermans-garage-and-service-station.htm