In Search of Old Raton Pass Road
Steve Riner
Road. I think the interest was caused by a postcard I saw (and didn't
buy because I don't collect postcards and I'm kicking myself) at an
antique show last year. It dated from the 1930s and showed Raton Pass
with sweeping hairpin turns. This doesn't at all match what you see on
the New Mexico side, and the turns on the Colorado side aren't that
sweeping either so it was obvious the road was originally in a
different place from present-day I-25. In looking at Google maps, I
found a road that exited Raton near its scenic overlook Goat Hill and
continued northwest called "Old Raton Pass Road." Bingo.
In following this road, I then noted a road on the Colorado side of
the border that begins at what is now the I-25 Wooton exit (Exit 2)
and had the exact switchbacks I remembered from that postcard. It was
obvious from tracing the road on aerial photos that it is now blocked
part way between the pass and Raton, but I really wanted to drive as
much of it as I could and even photograph those curves. Maybe I can
find that postcard again.
So, Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we're all feeling cabin fever
and Raton's two hours away, so we pile into the Durango. Figured I'd
possibly want 4WD. Exit I-25 at Exit 2, and at the bottom of the ramp
where the road goes under the railroad I see...a locked gate. It's
right at what looks like a very old Colorado Highway Department
culvert but we can't go any further. In fact, there isn't anything
else at Exit 2 that I can see so I guess the lucky folks who bought
this land including the road have their own offramp. So, back on the
freeway and on to Raton.
At Raton, we have better luck. We find the road that goes up Goat
Hill. Parenthetically, it reminded me of the Mississippi River towns
in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa that have the river bluff behind them
and a park at the top of the hill overlooking the town. It continues
west and northwest and isn't in bad shape. There are remnants of
pavement visible along it. After about four miles, we pass a building
on the left (southwest) side of the road that has a barbed wire-topped
chain link fence around it. It's built in traditional New Mexico
pueblo style and across the front reads "Port of Welcome." Wow, the
original visitor welcome center and someone thought to protect it.
Shortly thereafter we found the barricade consisting of a number of
boulders moved across the road.
This didn't answer the question of when the road was moved to its
current alignment. I was pretty sure that old U.S. 85-87 was on
basically the current alignment of I-25 well before the construction
of the interstate. My personal collection of oil company maps didn't
show enough detail in this area to answer, since the two crossings are
only about three miles apart. The answer came when I looked in a
volume of historical New Mexico highway information I had previously
downloaded from the NMDOT web site. This book has official state maps
from a number of years, and the official maps from the 1930s and early
1940s show the railroad. I found the 1942 map shown in this book has
the road east of the railroad like it is now, and the 1940 map in my
personal collection shows it west. So, roughly 1941 looks good for the
date. The current aerial photo also shows an abandoned roadbed from
north of the current north Raton exit on the west side of the highway,
where the relocated road apparently went under the railroad and onto
the current right of way.
And that's the story of old Raton Pass road. Actually the most
interesting part is well before people drove motor vehicles on it, and
has to do with the road being part of the Santa Fe Trail, and old Mr.
Wooton building the toll road but not charging Indians to cross the
pass. In the next couple of weeks I will update the U.S. 85 history on
my New Mexico highways web site and include photos of the old road and
the "Port of Welcome."
Steve Riner
Pueblo West CO
Explore New Mexico and Minnesota Highways: http://www.steve-riner.com
argatla...@yahoo.com.mx
> The answer came when I looked in a volume of historical New Mexico
> highway information I had previously downloaded from the NMDOT web
> site. This book has official state maps from a number of years, and
> the official maps from the 1930s and early 1940s show the railroad. I
> found the 1942 map shown in this book has the road east of the
> railroad like it is now, and the 1940 map in my personal collection
> shows it west. So, roughly 1941 looks good for the date. The current
> aerial photo also shows an abandoned roadbed from north of the
> current north Raton exit on the west side of the highway, where the
> relocated road apparently went under the railroad and onto the
> current right of way.
Do you know if this historical material is still on the NMDOT website?
Steve Riner
I was given a link to it by a reader of my site and downloaded the
report. The report itself appears to still be at
http://www.nmshtd.state.nm.us/upload/images/Programs-Environmental%20Deisgn/2004-1.pdf
(Link works despite the misspelling)
It was an outstanding resource for me and helped me to locate the
1909-1926 highway system components, a summary of which I have added
to my web site over the last few months. I did differ with this report
on interpretation of some historical details but for the most part it
was very interesting. And, it has scans of highway maps from as early
as 1914.
Steve Riner
Pueblo West CO
Explore New Mexico and Minnesota highways: http://www.steve-riner.com
jimg...@gmail.com
I love stories like this. THanks for sharing.
argatla...@yahoo.com.mx
look at it when it churns its way down my Ethernet cable. I have seen
some maps from 1912 onwards at the State Library, but you always wonder
how complete a library's holdings are and it will be interesting to see
if there is additional material.
Brian Reynolds
<jimgoebel> wrote ...
>
>
> I love stories like this. THanks for sharing.
Likewise. Great stuff
--
Brian Reynolds
Hastings Michigan