Gallup, New Mexico, is a blink-of-an-eye town. It’s shorter than a hiccup and half as dramatic, and though you think you wanna roll through nonstop, what you really wanna do is hit up the Rex Museum at the corner of Route 66 and Third Street.
The joint used to be a brothel. After the brothel closed, sweet peaches still rolled through the rooms when the building turned into a grocery store. It was also a police station and a hotel, but now, it’s a bastion of knowledge enveloped in beige stone open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If you’re into Southwestern history, it’s a killer stop with records as varied as the grave inventory from Hillcrest Cemetery to local coal mining ephemera and historic photo collections of the previously large Japanese population.
It’s free, but don’t be a cheapskate. Cough up the two bucks for the suggested donation, and make sure to talk to the enthusiastic staff who hella wanna storytell the history of Gallup. Details at www.gallupnm.gov/208/Rex-Museum.
Bonus: If you stay overnight on a Friday, you can hit up the Gallup Flea Market on Saturday morning. They’re known for having an f-ton of food vendors.
Patty Templeton
