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Grants, New Mexico

Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about 78 miles (126 km) west of Albuquerque. The population was 9,163 at the 2020 Census.[5] It is the county seat of Cibola County.[6]

Grants, New Mexico

United States

1872 (as Los Alamitos)

Don Jesus Blea

Canadian brothers Angus, Lewis and John Grant (as Grants)

Erik Garcia[2]

14.91 sq mi (38.62 km2)

14.91 sq mi (38.62 km2)

0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)

6,454 ft (1,967 m)

9,163

614.43/sq mi (237.24/km2)

UTC−6 (MDT)

87020

35-30490

2410646[1]

Grants is located along the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.[7]

History[edit]

Grants began as a railroad camp in the 1880s, when three Canadian brothers – Angus A. Grant, John R. Grant, and Lewis A. Grant – were awarded a contract to build a section of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad through the region. The Grant brothers' camp was first called Grants Camp, then Grants Station, and finally Grants. The new city enveloped the existing colonial New Mexican settlement of Los Alamitos and grew along the tracks of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.


The town prospered from railroad logging in the nearby Zuni Mountains, and it was a section point for the Atlantic and Pacific, which became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Zuni Mountain Railroad short line had a roundhouse in town (near Exit 81 off Interstate 40) and housed workers in a small community named Breecetown. Timber from the Zuni Mountains was shipped to Albuquerque, where a large sawmill converted the timber to wood products that were sold across the west.


After the decline of logging in the 1930s, Grants-Milan gained fame as the "carrot capital" of the United States. Agriculture was aided by the creation of Bluewater Reservoir, and the region's volcanic soils provided ideal conditions for farming. Grants also benefited from its location as airway beacon and later by U.S. Route 66, which brought travelers and tourists, and the businesses that catered to them. As of 2013 the beacon and FSS building on the airport (KGNT) was being restored as the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum.[8]


Perhaps the town's most memorable boom occurred when Paddy Martinez, a Navajo shepherd, discovered uranium ore near Haystack Mesa, sparking a mining boom that lasted until the 1980s (see Uranium mining in New Mexico). The collapse of mining pulled the town into a depression, but the town has enjoyed a resurgence based on interest in tourism and the scenic beauty of the region. Recent interest in nuclear power has revived the possibility of more uranium mining in the area, and energy companies still own viable mining properties and claims in the area.

Geography[edit]

Grants is located in north-central Cibola County. Santa Fe Avenue (former Route 66) is the main road through the city, while Interstate 40 passes through the south side of the city, with access from exits 81 and 85. I-40 leads 78 miles (126 km) east to Albuquerque and west 61 miles (98 km) to Gallup. The town of Milan borders the northwest end of Grants.


According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.9 square miles (38.5 km2), all land. Grants is on the north end of the large and recent (youngest flows around 3,000 years old) lava field known as El Malpais ("the badlands"), part of which is preserved as El Malpais National Monument. To the northeast of town are the San Mateo Mountains and Mount Taylor, at 11,301 feet (3,445 m) the highest peak in the region. West of the city is the Continental Divide and the Zuni Mountains, an eroded anticline with 2-billion-year-old Precambrian granites and metamorphic rocks at its core. The region is primarily high desert country, dominated by sandstones and lava flows.

Education[edit]

All public schools in the county are operated by Grants/Cibola County Schools. Seven elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools serve Grants and Cibola County. Los Alamitos Middle School and Grants High School serve Grants.


St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, is the only private accredited school in the city and serves grades pre-Kindergarten through eighth grades. The school building opened in 1945.[13]


There is a branch of New Mexico State University offering a two-year postsecondary program as well as advanced degrees through distance education.

Culture[edit]

The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management operate the El Malpais Visitor Center at Exit 85 off Interstate 40 in Grants. The visitor center highlights the many features of El Malpais National Monument and El Malpais National Conservation Area.


There is a mining museum in town, as well as the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum at the Grants-Milan Municipal Airport.


On Route 66/Santa Fe Avenue, the Cibola Arts Council runs an art gallery and museum that features the works of local artists and many Route 66 artifacts including a Ford Model T roadster. The museum hosts special events, shows, and openings on a regular basis.


There is a Tibetan Buddhist stupa in the Zuni Mountains west of town, the Zuni Mountain Stupa.

(92.7 MHz)

KDSK-FM

(96.7 MHz)

KSFE (FM)

(980 kHz)

KMIN

(born 1960), actor and voice actor

Greg Baldwin

(1923–2015), member of the New Mexico Senate

Joseph Fidel

(1938–2008), member of the New Mexico House of Representatives

George Hanosh

(1922–2011), NFL player for the Philadelphia Eagles and coach for Western New Mexico University

Al Johnson

(1930–1986), member and speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives

Walter K. Martinez

(born 1959), member and speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives

W. Ken Martinez

(1881–1969), prospector who discovered uranium at Haystack Mesa

Paddy Martinez

(born 1961), Roman Catholic sister of the Ursuline order who was abducted by the Guatemalan military

Dianna Ortiz

(born 1958), member of the New Mexico Senate

Clemente Sanchez

(1922–2008), actor known for the Mickey McGuire and Jones Family film series

Marvin Stephens

former member of the New Mexico Senate and Cibola County manager

David Ulibarri

(1925–1995), NFL player and coach

Jack Wallace

Author has stated in his novel On Second Thought that the fictional town of Alamitos is based on Grants, which is the historical name before it was renamed after the mining camp.[14] Wells lived in Grants during the late-1990s.

Robison Wells

Grants is mentioned as a central location in the novel Flint.[15][16]

Louis L'Amour

City of Grants official website

Grants travel guide from Wikivoyage