Architecture

The frontier spirit of New Mexico is celebrated in this memorable history of over two dozens forts and military outposts.

Life in early New Mexico was often perilous. Geographic isolation attracted outlaws and ruffians, and skirmishes often arose between the indigenous tribes and settlers. In response, the U.S. government set up military forts and outposts to protect its new citizens. These strongholds include Fort Craig, where logs were made to look like cannons to fool Confederate troops. Kit Carson, John Pershing and Billy the Kid all called Fort Stanton home, before it became the first federal tuberculosis sanatorium and later a detention center for German prisoners of war. Author Donna Blake Birchell relates little-known yet highly important Civil War battles, the tragedies of the Navajo and Mescalero Apache internments and other dramatic frontier stories.

Explore history, nature, and community.

Acequias, the ancient irrigation ditches first carved into the soil of New Mexico hundreds of years ago, are the lifeblood of Albuquerque. From the Native Americans who first cultivated the soil to the Spanish invaders who expanded on their efforts, these waterways reflect the history and impact of settlers on the natural landscape. They also provide the perfect place for a quiet walk. Protected since 1986, the acequia system provides a refuge for native plants and animals like cottonwood trees, coyotes and porcupines, while Spanish imports like vineyards, sheep and horses have found their place along them.

Join historian Joyce Salisbury and trail guide Kim Hafermalz as they share the wonders of the acequias that shape and sustain the city of Albuquerque.

Witness the evolution of Albuquerque from the perspective of its birthplace, the historic Old Town Plaza. Explore the rich architectural heritage and traditions that frame the bustling tourist attraction that is Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza. Learn to navigate the district by the original street names and property owners of the settlement. Survey the square from the basket of a hot air balloon suspended 14,207 feet above the 1882 Territorial Fair. Or gain a deeper appreciation for the legacy of venerable landmarks like San Felipe de Neri Church down to the mixing of the adobe plaster. With rare photographs and a detailed account of each historic structure, author Debra Montoya maps out how the Old Town Plaza became what it is today.

Albuquerque's response to Modernism—the architectural avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century—was complex and varied.

The growing city looked to the new as well as the mythic past characterized by the Santa Fe style. The result was rarely restricted to one cultural tradition. Influences include forms and motifs from a variety of intermixed cultural and social collisions. The result can be sophisticated, as with the Albuquerque Indian Hospital, or homespun, like the Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair. This book celebrates the cultural mixing of various Native American, Hispanic, and 19th- and 20th-century Anglo American forms and motifs unique to Albuquerque during the first half of the 20th century.

Author Mike Butler has included over 180 photographs depicting the rich history of Taos and the Enchanted Circle Byway in this stunning collection.

New Mexico is known as the Land of Enchantment, so it is appropriate that the state has an Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway. The 84-mile circular route crosses the Sangre de Cristo Mountains twice and is anchored in Taos. While the creation of the byway is a modern-day tourist development, the history of the area goes back at least 1,000 years to the creation of Taos Pueblo. The ancient Puebloans built a five-story adobe structure on the banks of the Rio Pueblo, still standing today just north of the present town of Taos. The village of Taos hosted trade fairs in the early 1800s with attendance by the Puebloans, fur traders, and other native tribes of the area. The 1900s witnessed the arrival of artists drawn by the beautiful scenery and native culture. Other historic towns of the Enchanted Circle grew up around short-lived gold and silver mines. 

Mike Butler has sourced images from the Library of Congress, the Huntington Library, and local collections. He is also the author of High Road to Taos, Around the Spanish Peaks, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Southern Colorado: O.T. Davis Collection, and Littleton. 

Albuquerque's response to Modernism—the architectural avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century—was complex and varied.

The growing city looked to the new as well as the mythic past characterized by the Santa Fe style. The result was rarely restricted to one cultural tradition. Influences include forms and motifs from a variety of intermixed cultural and social collisions. The result can be sophisticated, as with the Albuquerque Indian Hospital, or homespun, like the Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair. Enjoy the rich architectural history of Albuquerque and its unique cultural mixing of various Native American, Hispanic, and 19th- and 20th-century Anglo American forms and motifs in 15 historic black-and-white postcards.