Welcome Sculpture - Route 66, Grants, New Mexico, USA.
N 35° 09.169 W 107° 51.235
13S E 240023 N 3893719
A detailed metal sculpture celebrating Grants, Route 66, and Uranium Mining history. Topped by a large Zia Zia which is the New Mexico state symbol. A great photo opportunity & history lesson for present day Historic Route 66 travellers.
Waymark Code: WMM5N1
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 07/26/2014
Views: 11
Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about 80 miles west of Albuquerque, alongside Historic Route 66.
The large metal Silhouette pictograph was an invite to me to stop for a few photos, and I had a history lesson into the bargain.
The history of Grants is portrayed in one silhouette sculpture. The artwork is very detailed and shows several iconic periods in the Towns history. Railroad, Logging, Native American Culture, Westward Expansion, Pioneers, Spanish Trails, Uranium Mining, and Route 66.
Of course once you have stopped you may as well visit the Uranium Mining Museum next door.
"Grants, New Mexico, during the hey-day of Route 66 this section of the Mother Road through Grants and on to Gallup was perhaps one of the most memorable sections. This was the New Mexico of legend, the mysterious land of enchantment. The country is mountainous and colorful. It is here that Route 66 crosses the continental divide, and Native American culture is evident everywhere. Trading Posts abound. To the eastern traveler this was the real west." Text Source: (
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From the Museum Web site:
"In the mining industry, it's a fact of life and a philosophy: everything starts with a hole in the ground.
Uranium, coal, gold, silver, diamonds, copper and a myriad of other exotic metals, minerals and gems from the original hole in the ground are released to flow up and out in the world to become the wealth of nations.
Very few places in the world recreate the raw and often dangerous conditions of the hole in the ground re-created in Grants, New Mexico, in "one of the few Uranium Mining Museums in the World." Text Source: (
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Web link for additional information: (
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