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1919 Drake Hotel Building

216 E. Route 66, Gallup, NM
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The 1919 Drake Hotel, with 40 rooms, was once one of Gallup's largest hotels. Like many others of the era the hotel itself was on the second floor with commercial spaces on the first floor. The garage door on the right in this photo led to an underground parking and service garage.

According to the Sanborn Insurance Map in 1923 this was the Roma Hotel upstairs and the Beddow Buick dealership occupied the retail space on the first floor. By some accounts the Roma was a ... uhh ... let's say lively place, which may have led to the city attempting to shut it down for "Countenancing Underworld Life", it was during prohibition after all. I'm not convinced that wine actually flowed through the faucets as some have speculated though.

By the early 1930s it was called the Famous Hotel and was also home to the Club Famous Bar. In 1935 Sam Henry took over and renamed it the Henry Hotel which he operated until 1945. After Mr. Henry had moved on ownership reverted to the Famous Hotel operators who kept using the Henry Hotel, or Hotel Henry name.

By the early 1970s they were using entire building for various Native American community programs and use as a hotel and bar became part of the buildings history.

The hotel name and date on the pediment have suffered the ravages of time and attempts at modification. Looking closely you can see the Roma name replaced the Drake name. The hotel was built in the Decorative Brick Commercial Style, a style in which the inclusion of the pediment was not very common.

The building is listed on Gallup's Historic Tour and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Photo(s): 2019