Heading further west on 66 we reach Sante Fe, NM..Santa Fe Loop of Route 66 The original alignment of Route 66 between 1926 and 1937 went from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque via Romeroville, Bernal, Pecos, Santa Fe, Santo Domingo, Algodones and Bernalillo. It was bypassed in 1937 with the "Santa Fe Cut Off" which shortened the alignment via Moriarty. Santa Fe combines Spanish Colonial and Native American Pueblo culture and history. Arts, crafts, food and amazing outdoors on an iconic Route 66 city. Downtown Sante Fe, NM. San Miguel Mission..Built between approximately 1610 and 1626, it is the oldest known church in the continental United States. The church was damaged during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 but was rebuilt in 1710 following the Spanish reconquest and served for a time as a chapel for the Spanish soldiers. The wooden reredos, which includes a wooden statue of Saint Michael dating back to at least 1709, was added in 1798. Though the church has been repaired and rebuilt numerous times over the years, its original adobe walls are still largely intact despite having been hidden by later additions.
Heading further west on 66 we reach Sante Fe, NM..Santa Fe Loop of Route 66 The original alignment of Route 66 between 1926 and 1937 went from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque via Romeroville, Bernal, Pecos, Santa Fe, Santo Domingo, Algodones and Bernalillo. It was bypassed in 1937 with the "Santa Fe Cut Off" which shortened the alignment via Moriarty. Santa Fe combines Spanish Colonial and Native American Pueblo culture and history. Arts, crafts, food and amazing outdoors on an iconic Route 66 city. Downtown Sante Fe, NM. De Vargas Street House..The origins of this house seem to be lost, but for more than a century tradition has called it the oldest house in Santa Fe. It was labeled the "oldest building" in the city on the Stoner map of 1882, and the Urrutia map of 1766-68 shows a structure near the San Miguel Chapel in the approximate position of this house. Tree-ring specimens, taken from some of the vigas in the ceilings of the lower rooms, show cutting dates of 1740-67.