Albuquerque’s Alvarado Hotel - the new exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

March 10, 10:25 AMAlbuquerque Travel ExaminerNeala Schwartzberg

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   Alvarado Hotel, 1939 - from Albuquerque Historical Postcards

Once upon a time, Albuquerque had a jewel of a hotel. A hotel so grand that film stars and even a world famous physicist riding the train across the country would stop to experience its pleasures. A hotel that was one of the finest in the country.

And then the railroad tore it down.

This beautifully mounted exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History is one of love and loss.

Early Years of the Railroad and Albuquerque
It was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF) that arrived in Albuquerque in the late 1880s and virtually put the settlement on the map. Albuquerque became an incorporated town in 1885, and six years later, 1891, it officially became a city. A city complete with the University of New Mexico, the state’s largest university, which was founded in 1889.

The city was growing and expanding, and so was the railroad, in no small measure due to the genius of Fred Harvey. Passengers traveling across the country wanted more than a nice railroad car. Fred Harvey, who was operating two restaurants for another train system,  recognized the importance of high quality food and lodging. He took his ideas to the ATSF and the result was the business partnership that changed traveling by railroad from mere transportation to luxury and adventure.

The Opulent Alvarado Hotel and its Demise
No where was this clearer than the Alvarado Hotel. The vision of Fred Harvey, the gorgeous designs of Mary Colter, and the architecture of Charles Whittlesey produced a deluxe hotel, famed dining room, and curio-Indian building. And you could take tours into Indian country, charmingly known as Indian Detours.

The Alvarado Hotel made Albuquerque into a destination, and the people of the city loved the hotel for its elegance and fine food. It’s hard to know exactly what caused its demise. Clearly by the late 1960s train travel was being eclipsed by air travel. What is known is that the ATSF didn’t want to hold onto the hotel, and offered to sell it to the city for $1.5 million dollars. This was quite a huge amount of money for the time, especially for a building that was in need of repairs. The railroad was adamant about the amount, saying they could knock it down and sell the land for that amount. It was never clear who would buy it for that sum of money, especially since the city couldn’t come up with anything close to it.

Politicians and citizen groups tried to stop the razing of the historic building, but to no avail. In 1970, the owner of the building and the land, the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, tore it down. And for over 40 years the city has mourned its loss.

The Exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum
The new exhibit remembers that great hotel. It’s a marvelous exhibit, that begins with a waiting room (complete with historic documents as reading material), and then visitors walk through a construction reminiscent of the covered patio of the hotel into the main exhibit area.

Don’t miss the model reproducing the hotel and train station. It replicates in miniature the Alvarado in all its glory.

There is a reconstructed hotel room, and sections devoted to the dining room and coffee shop (complete with an actual copper and wood table and chairs). The young women who worked in these dining rooms across the country were known as Harvey Girls – hired and trained by the Fred Harvey organization. They are in the exhibit, too.

Another whole section focuses on the Indian Building. This was Mary Colter’s genius – the blown up post card depicts an interior with a profusion of native Indian wares. Some of the baskets and pottery that might have been available for purchase are exhibited as well. Visitors to the hotel would see not only authentic artisan products, but demonstrations by native craftmen and women.

Another part of the exhibit talks about the Indian Detours – tours through the pueblos organized by the railroad, and catered by the hotel.

The final history of the Alvarado Hotel has its own section with telegrams from politicians, a photo of the last event held at the hotel, and the razing of the building.

At the back of the Indian Detour exhibit, follow the signs to the Video Room for Fred Harvey and the American West. It’s a fascinating look at the man and the reshaping of train travel throughout the mid and southwest.

The death of the Alvarado was the death of a grand time and grand architecture,  a piece of the history of the city. Come and learn what was lost.