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.

Promises of riches from gold, silver, copper and zinc ores attracted thousands of treasure seekers to the Land of Enchantment. Boomtowns blossomed across the rugged wilderness until the trifecta of the Silver Panic of 1893, World War I and the Great Depression collapsed the economy. Explore the vacant relics of once vibrant communities. Some are well preserved and others are but a whisper of their former selves, but all have a story to tell. From the lessons still scrawled across the chalkboards of the abandoned Cedarvale School to the forgotten talismans of the Turquoise Trail, accompany author Donna Blake Birchell on her trek through the ghost towns of New Mexico.

The world's largest gypsum dune field, the 275-square-mile dunes of White Sands National Monument are a geologic oddity more than 250 million years in the making. Located in Southern New Mexico, the popularity of the monument draws nearly half a million visitors each year to the National Park Service's southwestern region. The area is protected from encroachment by the boundaries of the US Army's White Sands Missile Range and houses no less than 144 species of birds, 20 unique mammals, and 371 types of insects. The gypsum's beauty has been captured by photographers and filmmakers for more than a century. Both Hollywood and scientists alike have sought after the monument's stunning otherworldly visuals to mimic other countries and worlds. The deserts of Qatar were recreated for Transformers (2007), and the monument has been identified as a potential analog site for Mars.

The oldest capital city in the United States is Santa Fe, which has a rich and varied cultural history as well as the oldest public building still in use. Ancestral Puebloan Indians inhabited the area as early as 500 AD, and Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1540s. When Mexico gained independence from Spain, Santa Fe became the capital of Nuevo Mejico. It was not until 1912 that New Mexico achieved statehood. In the late 19th century, the Southwest became a haven for tuberculosis patients, and a number of sanatoriums were built in Santa Fe. Many creative individuals, including poets, artists and architects, stayed and significantly contributed to the city's cultural and architectural development. In 2005, Santa Fe received the distinction of being the first America community to be designated a "Creative City" by UNESCO.

Bandelier National Monument is located about 60 miles west of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the edge of the Valles Caldera, the center of a massive extinct volcano that forms the Jemez Mountains. The 50-plus-square-mile preserve was designated a national monument in 1916 and is named for anthropologist Adolph Bandelier, the first Euro-American to describe the area and encourage its preservation. Within its boundaries are some of the most important archaeological resources and the most striking scenery in the American Southwest. With deep canyons cutting through volcanic ash, the dramatic geology of the area alone would warrant national attention. However, this is also a place that shows evidence of nearly continuous human occupation for more than 10,000 years and still retains direct links between prehistoric and living Native Americans.

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.

New Mexico's theatrical ties span over one hundred years. The Fountain Theatre, once a Civil War hospital and headquarters, produced plays, opera and vaudeville performances until 1929, when the venue started airing talkies. Today, it holds the title of oldest operating theatre in New Mexico. Albuquerque drive-in attendees enjoyed personal screens for each car at the Circle Autoscope. And Rio Grande Theater operated for over seventy years before showing its final screening of U.S. Marshals in 1998. Author Jeff Berg details the Land of Enchantment's iconic movie houses.

Albuquerque's response to Modernism--the architectural avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century, of which the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s is an important component--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.

It is unknown when the earliest commercial lodging establishment came to Santa Fe. However, the first clear identification of a hotel at a specific site in Santa Fe dates to 1833, when Mary and James Donoho operated an inn on the site of what is now La Fonda on the Plaza, the Inn at the End of the Trail. This book presents an overview of Santa Fe hotels from the past and highlights the city's important remaining historic hotels. The chapters include key establishments that had their start in the early 20th century and continue in operation today. Most of them are still in buildings with considerable historic and architectural significance, such as Bishop's Lodge, La Fonda, and the St. Francis. A chapter on an iconic Route 66 motor court, which is now known as the lovingly preserved El Rey Inn, is also included.