Old Town ca. 1880. Photo by W.P. Bliss
This is part of an ongoing series on Albuquerque history, based on the experiences of Dr. William B. Lyon as related by him in letters to his fiance Corie Bowman.
Dr. William Lyon arrived in the bustling, rapidly growing town of New Albuquerque in the Spring of 1882, ready to start a new life for himself and his soon-to-be bride after having ended an 11 and a half year service in the US Army. Before delving into his experiences in the dusty railroad town, however, a word or two about Albuquerque as it was in 1882 is in order. Consider it setting the stage.
Most strikingly, it may surprise you to find that there were, in fact, two towns called "Albuquerque" (or something like it) at that time, approximately two miles away from each other.
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New Albuquerque, intersection of First Street and
Railroad Avenue (modern day Central) ca. 1885.
One town, the first town, the Old Town (the same Old Town that any tourist or new arrival in Albuquerque has spent at least one trinket-filled afternoon in,) was not actually named Albuquerque. At its founding, it was given the very impressive moniker of La Villa de San Francisco de Xavier de Alburquerque (please note the extra ‘r’), and then later changed to La Villa de San Felipe de Neri de Alburquerque for somewhat convoluted political reasons. It was built by Spanish colonists in 1706, soon after the New Mexico territory was reconquered by the Spanish following the Pueblo Revolt. For nearly 200 years, the Villa de Alburquerque had lain by the Rio Grande, outlasting first the Spanish domain of New Spain, then control by revolutionary Mexico, and finally a failed bid by the Confederate States of America to use the Villa as a base from which to "liberate" a CSA controlled “State of Arizona”. Since 1846 it had been a part of the United States territory of New Mexico (barring the brief Confederate occupation), and had had its share of ups and downs, booms and busts as an American town. Fumbling Anglo tongues soon demoted its grand full title to a mere mispronounced "Albuquerque".
The second town was New Albuquerque, also known as New Town, a name that later withered and died as the town itself grew into a city, sprawled its way through the 20th Century and absorbed its older sibling, making the “new” redundant. New Town Albuquerque was born with the arrival of the railroad in 1880, an event that also signaled the beginning of the Villa de Alburquerque’s final decline.
In 1882, New Town was a busy place being rapidly constructed out of wood, its dusty streets filled with enterprising strangers seeking to make their fortune in a city that was little more than a vision of the future.
Old Town was a quieter place, an ancient Spanish plaza surrounded by low adobe buildings. There were businesses and hotels there, but the merchants were beginning to close up shop and follow the smell of money eastward toward New Town and the train station.
At the time, the relationship between these two centers was still somewhat undecided. There were some, mostly the merchants of Old Town, who hoped that they would soon merge and become one prosperous city, a dream that would have to wait nearly 60 years. Others, newly arrived from the eastern United States and eager to make their fortune in an opened West, considered the Old Town something of an embarrassment, a symbol of old ways and a reminder of the Old World Spanish values that birthed it, with its long-held traditions and quiet, communally minded ways. They sneered at the "Mexicans" and planned to make New Albuquerque a distinctly "American" city, a place where progress and commerce would hold sway in lieu of other ideals- the two towns would be related by name and little more. And yes, there were plenty in Old Town that saw the noise and smoke of New Albuquerque and wanted nothing to do with it.
How did this split come to pass? Blame it on the railroad.
Next- The railroad and the birth of New Albuquerque
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