Authors:
Historic Era: Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
Historic Theme:
Subject:
February/March 2007 | Volume 58, Issue 1
Authors:
Historic Era: Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
Historic Theme:
Subject:
February/March 2007 | Volume 58, Issue 1
Last April, when I mentioned that I was flying to Albuquerque, several people assumed I was headed on to Santa Fe and seemed surprised that I wasn’t. “What’s there?” someone asked. I said I’d tell him when I got back. Now I know.
In 1706, New Mexico’s provisional governor, Francisco Cuervo y Valdes, petitioned the king of Spain to charter a town (known as a villa ) in a region along the Rio Grande that had been sparsely occupied since the 1600s. To conform to the mother country’s requirements, Cuervo claimed (falsely) 252 inhabitants, a plaza, a church, and several official structures. Stretching the truth worked, the charter came through, and today’s sprawling, lively city of about 500,000 proves his faith was well placed. On the weekend of my visit Albuquerque was about to launch its 300th anniversary celebrations.
It makes sense to start a first visit in Old Town, where it all began. The two- and three-story adobe structures are crammed with the requisite shops, restaurants, and galleries, but their appeal transcends the commercial.
Dominating the central plaza, from which all Old Town life flows, is the majestic Church of San Felipe de Neri, built in 1793. Its towers, added in the mid-nineteenth century, provide an incongruous Victorian touch. This structure replaced one on the west side of the square that dated from 1706 and disintegrated after about 85 years but allows the church to claim, in a sign near the front door, that it has served without interruption since Albuquerque’s founding.
A guided walking tour of Old Town sets off most mornings from the near-by Albuquerque Museum, and for those who don’t make that, there is a pamphlet pointing out some of the significant buildings. Still, the place could use more detailed markers affixed to the buildings, because the few I came upon were fascinating. One, on a structure called the Charles Mann Barn (now a shop), reads like a CNN crawl: “In 1903, a corner stone was found: August 31, 1864. Fourth year of the American Civil War. General Grant trying to take Petersburg and Richmond. Gold at 260%. Indians on the Santa Fe road to the United States very hostile. We built this house and the steam mill in Ranch. Sec. at the same time. Signed F. & C. Huning.”
Much of what one now sees in Old Town is the result of restoration mostly starting in the 1950s, yet the tree-shaded central plaza and its festive bandstand and the web of alleys that lead to serene courtyards and trickling fountains give a sense that the dust of the ages has settled most agreeably on Old Town.
The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, a block away, is a wonderful place to explore the city’s past and near present. A fine gathering of works by some of New Mexico’s greatest painters is called the Albuquerque High School Collection because, starting in 1942, that