Glenrio Texas/New Mexico Diner
Day Two finds me still on Interstate 40 with not many chances for photos. I decided to take an exit right at the border to see what a little town called Glenrio had to offer. My studies had told me that it sits on the Texas/New Mexico state line straddling old Route 66. Although Glenrio is pretty much a ghost town these days (even though I did hear a dog bark while taking a few photos), it was the site of the "First Motel in Texas" and the "Last Motel in Texas." I suppose the same could be said for New Mexico due to its strategic location. The town (although I think that's a description which may be a misnomer) consists of the remains of the Courtyard Motel, the Texas Longhorn Cafe and Phillips 66 station, the post office, and a few other buildings, including an old diner and adjacent Texaco station, and even the old Route 66 roadbed which had something similar to a modern-day median down the center.
I next ventured off the interstate in Vega, Texas, because it had a courthouse I wanted to photograph. It was somewhat disappointing compared to all the other fabulous courthouses I had seen on this trip and I found this old bus stop much more interesting. This area of Texas is called the Panhandle. I've never understood the logic of that because if you look at the US map it is obvious that the Panhandle belongs to Oklahoma. Oh, well, Texas has always been known to be overreaching I suppose.
Mulkey Theater, Clarendon, Texas
Shortly after leaving Amarillo I was able to abandon the interstate and continue my travels across the Panhandle and Northern Texas through the little towns that I love so much to visit. My first stop was in Clarendon, which had a population of 1974 in the 2000 census. I had lunch at the Dairy Queen (there seems to be a DQ in EVERY town in Texas!) and then went rambling where I found the Mulkey Theater. After arriving safely back home and doing a little bit of Googling I discovered in an article from the Amarillo Globe-News last March that the community of Clarendon has managed to raise $11,000 toward a necessary $20,000 to get the Mulkey's marquee lights up and running again as a first step toward revitalization of the property. The theater is on the Top Ten List of Most Endangered Properties by Preservation Texas, a private advocacy group that encourages support and funding for historic places, archives, and artifacts. Maybe I'll have the opportunity in a couple of years to revisit this area and take in a flick at the Mulkey.
