Historical Marker

Dennis Chavez Highway

United States highway 85, which parallels Interstate 25 the length of New Mexico from Texas to Colorado, was designated “Dennis Chavez Highway” in 1988 to honor the long and meritorious service of New Mexico’s first native-born United States Senator, Dennis Chavez (1888-1962). First elected to Congress in 1930, Chavez was serving his fifth consecutive term as United States Senator at the time of his time of death in 1962.