Gamerco, NM

Gamerco is a McKinley County census-designated place just north of Gallup, along U.S. 491 and near the Puerco River. Its name comes from the Gallup American Coal Company, which established a company town in 1920 while sinking shafts in the surrounding hills. The mining camp included a processing plant, rail spur, power plant, church, and homes for workers and their families. By the 2020 census, Gamerco had 1,343 residents, down from 1,956 in 2010.

Coal production continued to shape the area into the 1960s, and the old industrial footprint still helps make sense of why Gamerco sits so close to Gallup’s mining history. The city of Gallup’s mining mural includes the Gamerco electric generating plant and the Navajo rail crews that worked in the region. Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools serve the community, while U.S. 491 links local roads south to Interstate 40 and Gallup and north toward Yah-ta-hey. Gamerco is a place where a former company camp, a major highway, and the cultures of the surrounding Four Corners region meet.