15 Vintage Photos Of New Mexico In The 1970s

The 1970s was a decade of beginnings and endings. Vietnam ended and the Watergate scandal started. The Beatles split up while Aerosmith got together. Both Microsoft and Apple were founded and Sony began selling the Walkman. These are just a few of the events that happened on a global and national level, but what about life in New Mexico? These vintage photos provide a literal snapshot of our state during the 1970s.

1. Crew members for the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission practice during a simulation near Taos.

2. A coal train leaving the York Canyon mine, near Raton.

3. New Mexico currently has nine wind power plants. This turbine near Clayton is an example of one of our state's early wind turbines.

4. A group of people posing by the sign to Carlsbad Caverns.

5. Albuquerque's Sandia Peak tramway opened in 1966. This is what the view looked like from a cable car in 1972.

6. City of Rocks State Park, near Silver City, was just as beautiful during the 1970s.

7. Hidden Cave, which is in the Lincoln National Forest, hasn't changed much over the years either!

8. The area around Gallup, captured in 1977.

9. This is what the San Juan Church, built in 1887, looked like during the 1970s.

10. The interior of St. Joseph's Apache Mission, a neo-Gothic style church, in Mescalero.

11. Santa Fe's Palace of the Governors in 1972.

12. This is a great shot of Mayhill in the 1970s. This small community is near Cloudcroft.

13. During the 1970s, the historical Santo Domingo Trading Post (built in 1922) was still standing. It burned down during a fire in 2001. Fortunately, the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program funded efforts to rebuild this structure.

14. During the 1970s, St. Vrain, located in Curry County, still had a post office.

15. Mail vans traveling by train through New Mexico in 1976.

Were you living here during the 1970s? Do you have any photos of New Mexico from that time? We’d love to see them. Share your best 1970s shots on our Only In New Mexico Facebook page.

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These 15 Photos Of New Mexico In The 1970s Are Mesmerizing

Juliet White

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