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LAMY
 
Circa 1920s, the Lamy
Depot was in fact the "Santa Fe" station
for passengers headed up to the capitol
A
Bit of History...
Now a sleepy village of 100 or so residents, Lamy defies the march of
time. It has witnessed a transportation revolution that featured stagecoaches
to steam locomotives to diesel electric motive power, and yet the village
has changed little over the years.
Originally named Galisteo Junction, the village was formed in 1880 by
the junction of the Santa Fe branch line with the AT&SF main line.
It was named Lamy after Jean-Baptiste Lamy, a Catholic priest who came
to New Mexico from France in 1851. Eventually becoming Archbishop of the
Territory (New Mexico gained statehood in 1912), he played a major role
in the region's development, and arranged the donation of Church property
for the junction and town that bear his name.
Archbishop Lamy also had another link to his namesake town. In the planning
of his grand building endeavor--the Cathedral in Santa Fe's Plaza--Lamy
rejected the pink granite and green schist commonly found in the Sangre
de Cristo mountains. He did, however, find a shade of stone perfectly
suited to his design vision in the hill directly caddy-corner to the Lamy
Depot, and it is from this hill that stone for the Cathedral was quarried.
A
Novel Idea
Archbishop Lamy was the inspiration for the lead character in Willa Cather's
novel Death Comes for the Archbishop, a book full of flavor and
details about the challenges and struggles of introducing the Catholic
faith to inhabitants of New Mexico.
Service
After the AT&SF rails were completed in 1880, regular service on the
18-mile branch line commenced with twice daily freight and passenger trains.
These connected at Lamy with the Chicago-to-Los Angeles and -San Francisco
trains, which meant travelers could visit Santa Fe and then continue on
to their destinations. In time, the Santa Fe would recognize the importance
of this branch by constructing impressive facilities at each end of the
line.
At Lamy, the railroad built a
California Mission-style depot similar to the one in Santa Fe. This design
choice for the depot was a way for the railroad to proclaim to all visitors
that they had, in fact, arrived in the West.
A luxury hotel, the El Ortiz,
was also built, and served visitors until it was torn down when rail passenger
service declined after World War II. El Ortiz, though small, was very
popular with the artist set who visited Santa Fe to soak up its multi-cultural
influences. The El Ortiz was only one of many such luxury inns along the
route of the AT&SF, all commonly known as Harvey Houses. Fred Harvey,
Englishman and operator of the Harvey Houses, maintained a close relationship
with the Santa Fe. His dining rooms revolutionized food service both on
and off the trains. La Fonda in the Santa Fe Plaza is a well-know example
of a Harvey Hotel, with its original interior designs by Harvey's chief
designer, Mary Coulter.
Books about the Santa Fe Railway,
Harvey Houses, Harvey Girls, and Mary Coulter can be purchased in our
Santa Fe Depot Gift Shop.
To make
a reservation:
Call 1-888-989-8600
or 989-8600
in Santa Fe
Or use our handy form
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Busy exterior of El
Ortiz, early 1900s
The El Ortiz dining
room
The hearth at El Ortiz
Bird's eye view of
Lamy, late 1800s
Patio of El Ortiz
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