Woman documenting every building on Albuquerque’s Route 66

An Italian woman who is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico is photographically documenting every building and landmark on Route 66 in Albuquerque, according to a story on the university’s news service.

Donatella Davanzo, a University of New Mexico graduate student, walks along some part of Route 66 in Albuquerque almost every day, photographing the buildings, the street and the fragments of history still visible along the roadside.

Officially she is the Route 66 Fellow for the Center for Southwest Research at the UNM Libraries. Her job is to photograph every building of every block of Route 66 through Albuquerque. She is capturing the route as it looks in 2013-14 to save the view for future generations.

She has already walked every block from Tramway to Atrisco along Central Ave. methodically working from the mountains to the valley and out onto the mesa. […]

Walking along the route, she thinks Albuquerque’s part of Route 66 is unique. “In Albuquerque you can watch the architecture of Route 66. This is special because you have Pueblo style, Spanish style and Mexican style that creates a fascinating mix. This is a very special part of Route 66.” […]

Davanzo is now photographing the north/south portion of Route 66. At one point in its history, it ran along 4th Street. She is currently working her way from downtown toward the northern end of Bernalillo County.

It’s quite a challenge, as Albuquerque’s Central Avenue (aka Route 66) alone is nearly 20 miles long. Her project undoubtedly will be important for future researchers of the road.

In an email, Davanzo said she has more than 7,500 images, and all of them will be uploaded to the university’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections sometime next year.

Until then, you can see samples of her work at this Flickr account.

(Image of El Don Motel sign in Albuquerque by Donatella Davanzo for UNM via Flickr)