Belen Harvey House -- Belen NM
N 34° 39.601 W 106° 46.037
13S E 338059 N 3836761
The amazing Mission Revival Harvey House at Belen NM is on the US National Register of Historic Places
Waymark Code: WMMP7Z
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 10/18/2014
Views: 3
In 1910, Fred Harvey built a magnificent Harvey House at Belen NM, across from the much more humble Southwestern adobe style Belen NM passenger depot.
The Belen Harvey House was added to the US National Register in 1983. Unfortunately, the nomination form is not online.
Today the Belen Harbey House is home to the Belen Harvey House Museum. For details, see: (
visit link)
"The Santa Fe railroad arrived in Belen in 1880, when Belen was just a small farming community. For the next 25 years, there was little train traffic through Belen, because the main rail line went west from Albuquerque. But in 1908 the railroad opened a new line that avoided the steep grades over Raton Pass. This new line was the Belen cut-off, and it routed many more trains through Belen. Belen began to bustle.
Rail passengers who stopped in Belen needed a place to get a good meal. So in 1910 the railroad built a Harvey House restaurant right by the railroad tracks. It was the 86th restaurant in the chain, operated by Fred Harvey. It contained a large lunchroom, a more formal dining room, a newsstand, kitchen facilities, a bakery, and sleeping rooms upstairs for the Harvey Girls who served the meals.
That Harvey House is still standing today. Inside you can find hundreds of memorabilia pertaining to the Harvey House and the Santa Fe Railway, as well as exhibits on early local businesses in Belen. The Harvey House Museum is one of the few places where you can learn about America’s first chain of restaurants. It is a fascinating story."