Gallup (1)

Historical marker location:

I-40 , Gallup, New Mexico

( on east side of exit 26)

Long a major trading center for the Navajo and Zuni Indians living in communities north and south of the town, Gallup emerged in 1881 from a railroad construction camp. It is named for David Gallup, who in 880 was paymaster for the Atlantic & Pacific (now Santa Fe) Railroad. Population–18,161 Elevation–6600 ft.

In 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was tested at the Trinity Site in New Mexico. The test was part of the Manhattan Project, a secret government program to develop nuclear weapons during World War II.