Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town, New Mexico
Pie Town, New Mexico
unincorporated community
	Homesteader with dugout house in Pie Town, 1940 photograph by Russell Lee.
	Motto: America's Friendliest Little Town
	Pie Town Location within New Mexico Pie Town Pie Town (the United States)
	Coordinates: 34°20′24″N 108°10′15″W / 34.34000°N 108.17083°W
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	Catron County
Area
• Total	57.3 sq mi (148.4 km2)
• Land	57.3 sq mi (148.3 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	7,536 ft (2,297 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	111
• Density	3/sq mi (1.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
ZIP Code	87827
Area code	575
GNIS feature ID	2584176

Pie Town is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located along U.S. Highway 60 in Catron County, New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 186.^[2] Pie Town's name comes from an early bakery that specialized in dried-apple pies, established by Clyde Norman in the early 1920s.^{[citation needed]} Pie Town has been noted for its colorful place name.^[3] Pie Town is the location of a "Pie Festival" on the second Saturday of each September.^[4] Pie Town is located immediately north of the Gila National Forest and not very far west of the Plains of San Agustin, the location of the Very Large Array radio telescope, which is also located along U.S. 60. In addition, one of the ten large radio antennas that form the Very Long Baseline Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory can be seen from U.S. 60, just east of Pie Town.

Depictions in media

Pie Town and its people were photographed in 1940 by Russell Lee, a photographer for the Farm Security Administration of the U.S. government. Pie Town, Lee's photos, and the local restaurant, the Daily Pie Cafe, were the subject of an article in Smithsonian magazine in February 2005.^[5] In 2014, a feature-length documentary, Pie Lady of Pie Town, was produced.^[6] CBS News Sunday Morning aired a story about the town in 2015.

Education

The school district is Quemado Schools.^[7]

Tourism

Pie Town is located along U.S. 60, 83 miles (134 km) west of Socorro and approximately 290 miles (470 km) east of Phoenix, Arizona.^[8]^[9] Albuquerque is 136 miles (219 km) to the northeast by other highways.

The center of Pie Town is 2 miles (3 km) west of where US 60 crosses the Continental Divide, and some visitors arrive by way of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) that provides a respite between Silver City and Grants, New Mexico. For cyclists, equestrians, motorcyclists, and hikers, Pie Town provides a number of services, including lodging, supplies, and unique flavors of pie on request. In June 2007, three residents of Pie Town, Nita Larronde, Don Kearney, and Kathy Knapp, were awarded the Curry Trail Angel Award by the Adventure Cycling Association in recognition for their kindness and generosity.^[10]

The area of Pie Town is rich in relics of the Native Americans. Many Anasazi and Acoma pottery shards have been found in the area, along with grinding slicks, an ancient axe head, and petrified wood. Some fossilized bones have been found on the ground. The ruins of Native American communities, which consist of one to a few dozen structures, are found here.

The Pie Town Annual Pie Festival includes a pie-baking contest, games and races, music, food, and arts and crafts.^[11]