The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad set up a stop here on the way in 1882 to supply the steam locomotives with fresh water, which had to be brought in by tanker from Newberry Springs due to a lack of sources. Small discoveries of silver provided the basis for the first larger settlement, but by the early 1900s the mines were exhausted and the place died out.
In 1926, Route 66 came and with it new hope. A new town center grew up around the street until the interstate was completed in the 1970s. Ludlow died a second death. Only a handful of people moved closer to the interstate and built a small third Ludlow.
Old Ludlow Cafe in Ludlow
It was once probably the most beautiful building in the town, the then futuristic-looking Ludlow Café in a streamlined modern design, a sub-form of Art Deco.