Midway Trading Post...between Edgewood, N.M., and Moriarty, N.M...It was built around 1945 and served as a cafe, gas station, curio shop, post office, municipal court and community gather place. It pumped its last gas around 1972 when I-40 was built, bypassing the Midway Trading Post.
Still eastbound on the more modern alignment of Route 66 we pull through Moriarty, NM...Choppo McComb was born near Moriarty in 1932 and lived most of his life there. Today he, his wife Wyoma, and their daughter, Susie, have become the unofficial historians for both Route 66 and Moriarty. Choppo remembers that in its heyday back in the 1950s, “There were 11 gas stations lining Route 66. There were dances at Casa Redondo on Saturday nights.” There were also plenty of bars and motels, including the Sands Motel and the Sunset Motel, which still welcome guests. The popular El Comedor restaurant opened its doors and it has been run by members of the Anaya family ever since. The restaurant’s eye-catching neon rotosphere (with a real but unintended resemblance to the early Sputnik satellite) is still there, too, one of the few remaining in the country. The City of Moriarty was incorporated in 1953 when the townsites of Buford (east of the railraod) and Moriarty were combined. Route 66 continues to bring in business thanks to its status as a designated Scenic Byway. Highway related services are big revenue-producers, with gas stations, motels, restaurants, and repair shops welcoming road-trippers.
