New Albuquerque, ca. 1880, looking NW from the railyards.
Today: Lyon in New Albuquerque, the Armijo House, Henry Forrester and the Armijo Addition
The Lyon letters are an on-going series on Albuquerque/New Mexico history as related through the letters of William B. Lyon to his fiancé Corie Bowman.
On March 1st, 1882, four months after he began the courtship of Corie Bowman in La Mesilla, NM, Dr. William B. Lyon arrived in New Albuquerque. It is impossible to say exactly how he spent his time in the bustling railroad town, but it is clear that he met up with the Bowmans' family friend, the Episcopalian minister Henry Forrester, very soon after stepping off the train.
The Armijo House, New Albuquerque first "luxury hotel".
If we can allow ourselves a momentary license, it is easy to envision Forrester whisking Lyon through the bustle and chaos of New Albuquerque's busy center, alive with the sounds of rail-related commerce and construction and choked with coal smoke. Following the dusty track of Railroad Avenue (decades later renamed Central) to Third Street, perhaps Forrester paused to point out the still-brand-new Armijo House, the area's first "luxury hotel", a comparatively ornate three story building that soared above the saloons and flop houses that crowded the area. The Armijo House, with its distinctly urban design was the centerpiece of New Albuquerque’s aspirations toward “progress”. Lawyers and other professionals kept offices nearby, and perhaps Forrester suggested that Lyon’s future medical practice would find it a suitable location as well.
Or, perhaps instead of walking, the two men leapt aboard one of the eight mule-drawn street cars employed by the Street Railway Company, paid their ten cent fair and waited to traverse the mile or so of track toward their destination. Waiting would have likely been the order of the day, for, as Marc Simmons writes in Albuquerque, a Narrative History, "The mule cars operated in the most casual manner... When the need for a drink came upon them, the drivers were in the habit of stopping for a half hour or so in front of a handy saloon." As the saying went, "If you're in a hurry walk, but if you have time, take the street car."
One of the mule-drawn trolleys seen from the back. ca. 1880
Regardless of the exact manner, the two men made their way through the town to the thinly developed area that lay between the two Albuquerques, Old and New. It was here, in the area known as the Armijo and Perea Additions, that Lyon was interested in settling. Believe it or not, this area, near today's Twelfth and Central, and now more-or-less considered part of the "downtown" conglomeration, was then seen as a suburb on the far edge of New Albuquerque. The lots were large, and acequias provided ample irrigation for gardens and small farms. Walking through the area with Forrester, who owned some land there, Lyon apparently liked what he saw, for that evening he dashed a quick note to his fiancé back in La Mesilla.
My dear Corie,
I would give a good deal if you were here to help me out of my difficulty. I have almost made up my mind to buy a piece of land from Mr. Forrester and build on it. The chances of success in practice here and El Paso are about the same, and the situation is so much more pleasant that it seems to me I ought to accept it.
I have just returned from a long tramp with Mr. F., who has been very kind, and have only time to write this hurried note to get it in the mail before closing hour...
What shal I do? Good bye darling. Kiss yourself for me. I will see you Friday morning...
Yours,
Wm. B. Lyon
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