Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series: An Iconic View: Route 66 in Downtown Albuquerque
In-Person
Richard Ruddy’s talk looks at the impact that Route 66 had on Albuquerque’s main street, Central Ave. The story begins forty-six years before Route 66 was founded and is told with an iconic series of photographs each coincidentally taken from the railroad tracks and looking west along the trail that would become Central Ave. We see downtown Albuquerque grew to an optimum size in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, a vibrant business district the Saturday Evening Post said had “a blazing main drag” which the Chamber of Commerce claimed to be the brightest main street in America. But there is a downside to “optimum” which the iconic photographs also show as Albuquerque today valiantly fights to find a new identity for its central business district.
There will be free parking for the speaker series in the lot across the street from the library, courtesy of the Albuquerque Historical Society.
For more information, visit www.Route66Speakers.org.
- Date:
- Saturday, March 28, 2026 Show more dates
- Time:
- 11:00am - 12:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Mountain Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Botts Hall
- Location:
- Special Collections
- Categories:
- Adults Local History Speaker Series Special Event
