Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory Historic District

Historic district
Near Gallup, New Mexico
4.3 mi from Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

Once the federal Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Lab, this historic district lies in the Cibola National Forest near Gallup, NM, about 10 miles east of the city and just southwest of Fort Wingate. Founded in 1935 as a research station, it now serves as the Fort Wingate Work Center of the forest. Its Pueblo Revival buildings earned a National Register listing in 2003, and they give Route 66 travellers a look at 1930s government architecture in the Southwest.

What it is

A historic district of about 81.8 acres built around a cluster of government buildings. Its inventory lists 14 buildings, 20 structures and five sites that contribute to its historic character, all tied to its original purpose. That makes it a complete working campus rather than a single landmark. The buildings follow the Pueblo Revival style, with the flat roofs and earth-toned walls that echo the pueblos of the region, and some were designed by the architectural firm Mayers, Murray and Phillip.

Today the complex serves as the Fort Wingate Work Center of the Cibola National Forest, so it is a working Forest Service site, not a museum.

A bit of history

In 1935 the Bureau of Indian Affairs teamed up with the USDA to set up the laboratory, whose name points to its work on rangeland and sheep breeding. Later the complex became a Forest Service work center, and the district earned a National Register listing in 2003.

Visiting tips

The district is on Forest Road 546, about 2.2 miles southwest of Fort Wingate. Because it is an active Forest Service facility, look from the road and do not wander into work areas. A short stop is enough for photos of the Pueblo Revival buildings from the roadside. The Calvin-Rehoboth Robotic Observatory is about 7 miles away, and in Gallup the El Rancho Hotel & Motel is about 10.4 miles off.