Tag: Gallup
Gallup (Navajo: Naʼnízhoozhí) is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 21,678 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of McKinley County and the most populous city between Flagstaff, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Gallup was founded in 1881 as a railhead for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The city was named after David Gallup, a paymaster for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. During World War II, the city fought successfully to prevent 800 Japanese American residents from being placed in wartime internment. Gallup is often known as the “Heart of Indian Country” because it is in the middle of many Native American reservations and home to many tribes.
Route 66 runs through Gallup, and the town’s name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, “Route 66”. In 2003, the U.S. and New Mexico Departments of Transportation renumbered US Highway 666, the city’s other major highway, as Route 491, since the number “666” is associated with Satan and…