Continuing northeast 0.7 miles (1.1 km) farther, the highway runs by Fabian Garcia Botanical Gardens, part of the NMSU Agricultural Experiment Station.

The original Route 101 ran from Pojoaque west to San Idelfonso as an "unimproved" road.

[2] NM 101 first appears on 1940 roadmap, as a connector between State College (future NMSU) and US 80/US 85 south of Las Cruces.

The road construction was probably related to the New Mexico State College introducing Air Mechanics Courses starting at some point prior to 1941.

In 2001 a portion of this highway between South Main Street and Telshor Boulevard was transferred to the city of Las Cruces shortening NM 101 to its current length.