About Rowe, New Mexico
Facts, Trivia and useful information
Elevation: Elevation: 6,821 ft (2,079 m), Population: n⁄a.
Time zone: Mountain (MST): UTC minus 7 hours. Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6).
Rowe is an unicorporated community in San Miguel County. See map with the location of the village.
See nieghbouring San Jose, for the history of New Mexico during the Spanish Colonial period.
View of Rowe E. T. Padilla's store on the Old 1926 Route 66 - Rowe, New Mexico
The Santa Fe Trail linked Rowe with Pecos and San Jose, as an active trade route.
The first store in Rowe was owned by Andrew Kosloskie, and he supplied the stage coaches along the Santa Fe Trail. He chose the spot because there was a good spring.
The Union forces retreated here after their first skirmish at Glorieta Pass (1862) and set up headquarters in Rowe.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad built the railway next to the Trail in the 1880s and chose the spot which had been first settled in 1876 for a stop. A post office was created there in 1884. Its original name in 1883 was Kingman, but later it was renamed after a contractor of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad which built it as a work camp for the construction of the railway: Rowe.
Most of its residents came from the nearby village of Las Ruedas on Pecos River, who moved to the new stop on the railroad. The old townsite is now private property.
In 1926 Route 66 was aligned through Rowe until 1937 when it was realigned further south, between Moriarty and Santa Rosa, bypassing all the towns along the Santa Fe Loop including Rowe.
Accommodation near Rowe
There are lodging options for those travelling along Route 66 in some nearby towns
Lodging Near Rowe along Route 66
Heading East ...
- 40 miles. Motels and Hotels in Las Vegas NM
- 92 miles. Motels and Hotels in Santa Rosa
- 150 miles. Motels and Hotels in Tucumcari
Heading West....
- 28 miles. Motels and Hotels in Santa Fe
West along the later Route 66 alignment
- 85 miles. Motels and Hotels in Albuquerque
- 141 miles. Motels and Hotels in Acoma Pueblo
- 159 miles. Motels and Hotels in Grants
- 219 miles.Motels and Hotels in Gallup
>> There are RV campgrounds near Rowe
The weather in Rowe
The climate is hot in summer and cold in winter. It is relatively arid and has very dry air.
The average high in summer (July) is 86°F (30°C) and the average low is 53°F (11.7°C). During winter (Jan) the average high is 48°C (8.9°C) and the average low is 21°F (-6.1°C), below freezing point.
Snowfall reaches 25 inches (63.5 in.) on average and can fall at any time between November and April. Most falling during Dec. and Jan (6 in. each)Rainfall is 17.2 in. per year (437 mm). The rainiest months are June through Sept. with almost 10 inches of rain.
Tornado risk
Rowe is located in an area with virtually no tornado risk: San Miguel county only has two (2) Tornado watches per year and mostly in the eastern fringe of the county.
Tornado Risk: read more about Tornado Risk along Route66.
Getting to Rowe
The village is located to the northwest of Santa Rosa along the 1926 to 1937 alignment of Route 66.
To the east is Las Vegas and Romeroville.
To the west, along the old Route 66 lie Pecos and Santa Fe. Albuquerque is further away, to the southwest.
Map of Route 66 through Rowe New Mexico
See the alignment of US 66 in this location, on our New Mexico Route 66 Map, it has the complete alignment across the state with all the towns along it.
Route 66's alignment in New Mexico: the Historic Route 66 through Rowe
Route 66 across New Mexico
Click to read the Full description of Route 66 across New Mexico.
The Santa Fe Loop (1926 - 1937)
Our Santa Fe Loop page describes the complete 1926 to 1937 alignment of Route 66 from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque through Pecos, Santa Fe and Bernalillo.
Below is full information on Route 66's 1926 alignment in this town.
Rowe: its Attractions
Landmarks, Route 66 sights
Rowe, its Attractions
The Historic Santa Fe Trail
The Spanish settlers at Santa Fe opened the "Santa Fe Trail" in 1792 to link their city with the French trading posts in Louisiana, on the Missouri River.
Much later, the wagon trains used it to move merchandise to and from New Mexico. It was also on of the main t rails used by the settlers to reach the Southwest and the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
The southern fork of the Trail passed through Las Vegas, Rowe, Pecos and crossed Glorieta Pass to reach Santa Fe.
CanAm Highway
This "highway" has a total length of 1,975 mi (3,179 km) and is an international highway linking El Paso,Texas, USA with La Ronge in Saskatchewan, Canada. Hence its name "CanAm".
US Route 85 & I-25 are part of the CanAm highway, and both cross New Mexico, overlapping the old 1926 - 1937 alignment of Route 66 between Santa Fe and Romeroville, passing by Rowe.
Route 66 meets the "Old Santa Fe Trail"
The few homes that make up the village of Rowe are located on the "Santa Fe Trail" and the 1926 alignment of Route 66. It has some pueblo Ruins too.
Rowe is a scattering of houses on the CanAm highway south of the Pecos River.
Tours & Itineraries
Nearby Route 66 Towns
To the east, visit San Jose, Las Vegas and, further south, is Santa Rosa. Head west along the 1926 alignment of Route 66 to reach Pecos and Santa Fe.
Rowe Pueblo archaeological Site
The area is located bretween US-85 on the west, the Pecos River on the east. It lies on private property and was excavated in 1980, 83 and 1984 by the University of New Mexico Summer Field School under the direction of Linda Cordell.
It consists of a three plaza pueblo which had many two-story buildings, now collapsed. It followed a rectangular layout.
It is in the field shown in this Street View.
Etiquette at an Archaeological Site
Leave no trace, only take photographs. Remember that cultural sites are degraded by unintentional damage caused by visitors. View from a distance to reduce impact. Leave artifacts where they lie (potsherds, flints). Don't move rocks, branches. Don't touch plaster walls. Don't touch rock art. Don't climb on walls or roofs. Pets should not enter archaeological sites.
Archaeological sites are protected by local, federal and state laws and they provide for prosecution with fines and⁄or imprisonment of violators.
The 1926 to 1937 alignment of Route 66 near Rowe
We describe the road between San Jose and Pecos, including Rowe here: Route 66 San Jose to Pecos.
See the Map from San Jose to Pecos through Rowe.
The Santa Fe Cut-Off
NM 6 which linked Santa Rosa with Albuquerque via Moriarty was finished in 1927 but only later was it paved. In 1937 it was incorporated into the new alignment of Route 66 that "cut-off" Santa Fe, shortening the road and providing a quicker paved route to Albuquerque and the Pacific Coast. This alignment also cut off Rowe.
Route 66 on the main post 1937 alignment
> > See the previous segment Newkirk to Santa Rosa (to the south and east) and the next one, the 1937 alignment from Santa Rosa to Clines Corner (to the south and west).
Route 66 east of Rowe
Route 66 west of Rowe
> > Pecos to Santa Fe through Glorieta.
The map is from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, under Fair usage and its BY-NC-SA 3.0, License. Metadata: Author and Publisher: Rand McNally and Company, Chicago. Date: 1927. Full Title: Rand McNally junior auto road map Arizona, New Mexico. Copyright by Rand McNally & Co., Chicago, Ill. (1927). List No: 5755.032 Page No: 66-67 Series No: 36.
National and State Parks
Check the Parks at Las Vegas and the Parks at Pecos.
Sources
Jack DeVere Rittenhouse, (1946). A Guide Book to Highway 66.
Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat.
Rowe Ruin Pecos Conference Field Tour.
Guidebook of the Western United States: Part C - The Santa Fe Route, With a Side Trip to Grand Canyon of the Colorado, bulletin 613. Nelson Horatio Darton.
Further Reading Padilla Store
Robert Julyan. 1996, The Place Names of New Mexico, UNM Press.