A Brief History of Albuquerque

The old town of Alburquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost. Alburquerque was primarily a farming community and military outpost along the Camino Real. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish village pattern: a central plaza surrounded by government buildings, homes, and a church. This central plaza area, know known as "Old Town" has been preserved and is open to the public as a museum, cultural area, and center of commerce.

The village of Alburquerque was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of the Duke of Alburquerque, viceroy of New Spain from 1702 to 1710. The first "r" in "Alburquerque" was dropped at some point in the 19th century, supposedly by an Anglo-American railroad station-master unable to correctly pronounce the city's name. In the 1990's, the Central Avenue Trolley Buses were emblazoned with the name Alburquerque (note the extra "r" as the fifth letter) in honor of the city's historic name.

During the Civil War Albuquerque was occupied in February 1862 by Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley, who soon afterwards advanced with his main body into northern New Mexico. During his retreat from Union troops into Texas he made a stand on April 8, 1862 at Albuquerque. A day-long engagement at long range led to few casualties against a detachment of Union soldiers commanded by Colonel Edward R. S. Canby.

When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1880, it bypassed the Plaza, locating the passenger depot and railyards about two miles east in what quickly became known as New Albuquerque or New Town. Old Town remained a separate community until the 1940s when it was absorbed by the City of Albuquerque, which was incorporated in 1891.

New Albuquerque quickly became a tidy southwestern town which by 1900 boasted a population of 8,000 inhabitants and all the modern amenities including an electric street railway connecting Old Town, New Town, and the recently established UNM campus on the East Mesa. In 1902 the famous Alvarado Hotel was built adjacent to the new passenger depot and remained a symbol of the city until it was torn down in 1970 to make room for a parking lot. In 2002, the Alvarado Transportation Center was built on the site in a manner resembling the old landmark. It functions as the downtown headquarters for the city's transit department, and serves as an intermodal hub for local busses, Greyhound busses, and the New Mexico Rail Runner.

The first travelers on Route 66 appeared in Albuquerque in 1926, and before long dozens of motels, restaurants, and gift shops had sprung up along the roadside to serve them. Route 66 originally ran through the city on a north-south alignment along 4th Street, but in 1937 it was realigned along Central Avenue, a more direct east-west route.

Throughout 2005 and 2006, the Albuquerque tricentennial celebration is taking place throughout the city.