Glenrio

Glenrio straddles the Texas-New Mexico border in northwestern Deaf Smith County. In 1905 the area was opened to small farmers, who settled on choice 150-acre plots. In 1906 the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway established a station at Glenrio, and the community bustled with cattle and freight shipments. Shipping pens at the depot were frequently used by the Landergin brothers and other area ranchers. Although a post office was established on the New Mexico side of the community, the depot where the mail arrived was on the Texas side. By 1920 Glenrio had a hotel, a hardware store, and a land office, as well as several grocery stores, service stations, and cafes. A newspaper, the Glenrio Tribune, was published from 1910 to 1934. After U.S. Highway 66 was routed through the town, a "welcome station" was built near the state line. Some scenes in the 1940 movie Grapes of Wrath were filmed at the community. By 1945 Glenrio had a population of thirty. Homer Ehresman operated a combination grocery store, filling station, and tourist court. There were no bars on the Texas side of the community, since Deaf Smith County was dry, and no service stations on the New Mexico side because of that state's higher gasoline tax. The moving of Route 66 when it became Interstate Highway 40 resulted in the town's decline. The Ehresman family moved their business to New Endee, New Mexico, five miles to the west, and Charles Jones moved his cafe and filling station north to the bypass in Oldham County. The Rock Island depot was closed in 1955. In the 1980s the post office and two residences remained at Glenrio. In 2000 the population was five.