Mountainair: Pueblo Heritage, Art and History

Mountainair can be explored through several distinct themes: historic buildings, art along Main Street and recurring events tell more of the town’s story. Quarai and Abó are in the surrounding area and offer additional places to visit when planning your trip.

Visitor Center and Salinas Pueblo Missions

At the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument visitor center in Mountainair, a short film features Pueblo peoples and missionaries who lived in the Estancia Basin. The film gives the visit a specific thematic focus. The main visitor center also has restrooms, a museum and a bookstore.

According to the National Park Service’s current visitor information, the visitor center has an accessible entrance and an exhibit area for visitors with mobility impairments. If these details are important for your visit, confirm them before you travel. This lets you combine getting oriented at the site with the access information relevant to you.

Trails and destinations in the surrounding area

At Quarai, the one-mile Spanish Corral Trail passes through a piñon-juniper forest. Abó is in the surrounding area of Mountainair, nine miles west along US Highway 60. There is a 0.5-mile trail, ruins, a visitor center, a picnic area and easy walking trails. The trail at Abó is half as long as the one-mile Spanish Corral Trail. The features described also differ: at Quarai, the forest shapes the trail, while Abó includes ruins and a picnic area in addition to its trails.

Architecture and local history

The Dr. Robert J. Saul Recreation Center in Mountainair was built in 1934 using local materials. These include sandstone from nearby canyons, columns made from tree trunks and hewn beams from trees in the Manzano Mountains. The building’s story focuses on its construction date and the origins of its materials.

The Mountainair Municipal Auditorium meets Criterion A of the National Register and is considered the most significant public building ever constructed in Mountainair. The Shaffer Hotel at 100 W Main Street is a listed property and is considered an icon of the community. On the eastern edge of town still stands the railroad depot built by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company; it is a reminder of the town’s railroad history. These buildings represent different aspects of local history: public significance, the legacy of a well-known house and development along the railroad.

Art, market and events

Works by many artists based in Mountainair can be seen along Main Street, on walls and buildings, and in galleries. An art walk guide is available for an official tour. You can explore the town’s art as a topic in its own right or use the official art walk to help you get oriented along Main Street. Farmers sell their produce at the open-air market. In its earlier heyday, Mountainair was known as the “Pinto Bean Capital of the World.”

The annual Sunflower Festival includes an arts and crafts show featuring work by local and regional artists. Mountainair also holds the annual Firecracker Jubilee, a Fourth of July celebration. Local and regional gymkhana rodeos are also typically held in town. The events thus range from arts and crafts at the Sunflower Festival to the Fourth of July celebration and rodeos. If you want to plan your trip around an event, check the dates for your chosen year.

Discover more destinations: Moriarty

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