Old Town Albuquerque
Old Town is the historic original town site of
Old Town is a popular tourist destination with a large number of restaurants, shops, and galleries, and is also home to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and the Explora science center are located a short distance to the northeast. Old Town is known for its luminaria displays during the holiday season, particularly on Christmas Eve.
Layout
Old Town occupies an area of about 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), roughly bounded by Rio Grande Boulevard, Mountain Road, 19th Street, and
.History
Arrival of the Spanish
Spanish relations with indigenous peoples in Albuquerque were complex and violent. In New Mexico, the first interaction that Puebloans had was at the Zuni pueblo of Vacapa when the Spanish explorer Frey Marcos de Niza sent his African slave Esteban to interact with the Zuni people.[5] Estaban was subsequently killed by the Zuni, establishing a tone for Spanish-Indigenous relations throughout New Mexico which carried into the founding of Albuquerque.[5] The Spanish first had contact with the Pueblos in the area that would become Old Town Albuquerque when in 1540 Fransisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition searching for the Seven Cities of Cibola lead him to the Pueblos. Coronado was able to peacefully trade small gifts and items with them at first, but as winter overtook the unprepared conquistadors, they steadily became more and more violent with the Pueblo peoples, demanding more food and supplies and progressively conquering a few of the Puebloan’s smaller villages.[5] The Tiwa people of Albuquerque fought back against the Spanish until they left to return to Mexico in the Spring of 1541. However, the violent interactions between the two parties gave each a long-lasting impression of the other, further contributing to negative relations between the Spanish and Indigenous peoples of Albuquerque. This paved the way for the violent conquest of Oñate, and his ouster from New Mexico by the indigenous peoples in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolts.
Albuquerque began to be settled by a group of people traveling in the Spanish “Reconquista” led by
Women also played an overlooked role in Old Town Albuquerque. At least twenty women are known to have been a part of the Spanish colonization of Albuquerque and the subsequent founding of Old Town.[6] While many were subjugated to more traditional colonial roles like cooking, cleaning, and homemaking, some quickly became heads of their respective families due to the death of their husbands.[6] Those who were designated heads of households were able to inherit land as a result of Spanish law and became the breadwinners for their families.[7] The twenty women who are known to have helped colonize Old Town have come to be acknowledged as the "founding women of Albuquerque" and are listed on a plaque in Old Town Plaza provided by the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program.[6]
Like other Spanish colonial settlements, Albuquerque consisted of a central plaza surrounded by houses, government offices, and a church. For much of the 18th century, the homes around the plaza were inhabited only on Sundays as the residents spent the rest of the week on their farms. It was not until the late 1700s that a permanent population was established at the plaza.[8]
Toward the Modern Age
Possession of Albuquerque, along with the rest of New Mexico, passed to
The
The Plaza
Old Town Plaza dates to the original founding of the city in the early 1700s and remains the center of Old Town. It was originally larger than today, extending to the south and east,[14] but was reduced to its present size by the late 1800s. In the 1850s, a 121-foot (37 m) flagpole was erected in the center of the plaza by the U.S. Army.[9]: 28 The adobe wall surrounding the plaza was replaced with a picket fence in 1881 and then a stone wall built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937.[15] The WPA's walls and bandstand were unpopular and were removed just eleven years later through a grassroots effort organized by the Old Albuquerque Historical Society. The historical society also oversaw construction of a new bandstand, new landscaping, and installation of 16 wrought iron benches purchased from Chihuahua, Mexico.[12][11]: 251
At the east end of the plaza is a display of two replica M1835 mountain howitzers. During the civil war, the guns originally belonged to the Union until the Confederacy captured the guns and used them against the Union.[16] Retreating Confederate forces buried eight howitzers near the plaza in 1862 to prevent them from falling into Union hands. he guns were rediscovered in 1889 with the help of the former Confederate artillery commander, who still remembered their location. Two of the howitzers were put on display in the plaza but were later moved to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History and replaced with replicas.[17][11]: 77–82 Accompanying the guns is a plaque that is controversial for having pro-confederate sentiments, mentioning the name of a Confederate Major Trevanion Teel.[16] The plaque was partially funded by his ancestors, however, Teel was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a group like the Ku Klux Klan, that sought to conquer territory in Latin America with the purpose of establishing an empire based on slavery.[16] At the west end of the plaza is a display of various flags which have flown over the city, including those of Spain, Mexico, and the United States. There was also a Confederate flag reflecting the brief occupation of the city by Confederate forces, but it was removed in 2015 amid the ongoing controversy surrounding such symbols.[18] Two other plaques, both which have created controversy due to their historical flaws in the portrayal of events, that commemorated the Skirmish of Albuquerque and buried Confederate soldiers respectively were also removed at that time.[16] At this time, the plaque that accompanies the howitzers remains intact.[16]
La Journada Statue
A controversial statue known as La Journada featuring the Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate formerly sat in the middle of Old Town Plaza. The statue was commissioned by the City of Albuquerque in 1998 and created by New Mexico artists Betty Sabo and Reynaldo "Sunny" Rivera.[19] It depicts several Spanish settlers and an Indigenous guide led by Oñate who is one of the first Spanish conquistadors to travel to and settle in the New Mexico territory. However, much of Oñate's success were at the expense of Indigenous peoples, most notably the Acoma people, who he tortured and massacred.[20] Oñate was later removed and prosecuted by the Spanish crown in 1614, however, the pain and generational trauma he has inflicted on many Indigenous peoples in New Mexico have caused continuing controversy around the statue.[20] In the wake of the George Floyd murder, during a protest that rose at the site of the statue, a gunman opened fire on the protesters, prompting the Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller have the statue removed the next day.[21] The incident occurred when armed counter protesters from the New Mexico Civil Guard, a paramilitary group, attempted to act in a law enforcement capacity, trying to detain protestors.[22] A judge later ruled that the group did not have the right to act in the capacity as law enforcement or national guard as well as barring them from having any law enforcement powers independent of the state government of New Mexico.[23] As of 2023, the statue remains in storage with its new home still undetermined by the Albuquerque city council.[21]
Buildings
Most of the historic buildings in Old Town were built between 1870 and 1900, though some are older. Only one building,
Five properties in Old Town are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
- Salvador Armijo House, built c. 1840
- Charles A. Bottger House, built in 1912
- Our Lady of the Angels School, built in 1878
- San Felipe de Neri Church, built in 1793
- Antonio Vigil House, built in 1879
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Gateway to Old Town Albuquerque, 2013
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Typical walk in Old Town Albuquerque, 2013
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Guadalupe Chapel, 2013
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Altar in Guadalupe Chapel, 2013
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Restaurant in Old Town Albuquerque, 2013
Notes
References
- ^ "Listed State and National Register Properties" (PDF). New Mexico Historic Preservation Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ a b "LUCC Staff Report" (PDF). Landmarks & Urban Conservation Commission. 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, Historic Preservation Division. "The historical marker for the Old Town Plaza on the Camino Real". StoppingPoints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- ^ "Old Town Map" (PDF). Old Town Merchants Association. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Myla Vicenti Carpio. (2011). Indigenous Albuquerque. Texas Tech University Press.
- ^ a b c d e Home - New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program". www.nmhistoricwomen.org. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ISSN0003-1615
- ^ Simmons, Marc (2003). Hispanic Albuquerque, 1706-1846. Albuquerque: UNM Press. pp. 45–64.
- ^ a b Lazell, Carleen; Payne, Melissa (2007). Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History. San Antonio: HPN Books.
- ^ "History of Bernalillo County". Bernalillo County. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9780826337825. Retrieved September 19, 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "The Editor's Corner: Old Albuquerque". New Mexico Quarterly. 19 (4): 530–531. 1949. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
- ^ "Albuquerque History Timeline". Albuquerque Historical Society. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ Dewitt, Susan (1978). Historic Albuquerque Today: An Overview Survey of Historic Buildings and Districts (2 ed.). Albuquerque: Historic Landmarks Survey of Albuquerque. p. 31.
- ^ WPA Guide to New Mexico. San Antonio: Trinity University Press. 1940. pp. 183–184. Retrieved September 18, 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e JoeyPeters (2015-08-03). "Albuquerque removes Confederate flag from Old Town; 'inaccurate plaques' coming down". NM Political Report. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ Mountain Howitzers historical marker at Old Town Plaza (2007), City of Albuquerque.
- ^ McKay, Dan (August 3, 2015). "Mayor strikes Confederate flag in Old Town". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "Betty Sabo and Reynaldo "Sonny" Rivera, La Jornada". City of Albuquerque. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ^ a b "Juan de Oñate | New Mexico colonizer, explorer | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ^ a b "Albuquerque remains undecided on Oñate statue's future one year later". KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ^ "New Mexico Court Enjoins New Mexico Civil Guard From Publicly Operating as a Military Unit or Acting as Law Enforcement". www.law.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
External links
- Official website
- Historic Old Town at cabq.gov
- Historic Old Town Albuquerque, a Flickr photostream by City of Albuquerque Cultural Services