and drive-thru liquor stores.
After passing the grand east façade of Zachary Castle and beneath Lead, find the Santa Fe Freight House on your right near the south end of the Albuquerque depot complex. This two-story simplified Mission-style office, built in 1946, was one of the last AT&SF additions to the complex. Two more original buildings are still standing: a former telegraph office built in 1914 is directly behind the freight house, and the Indian Curio Store, built in 1912, stands to the north and now serves as an Amtrak office. The original AT&SF Depot, built in 1902, burned down in 1993. The Alvarado Hotel, also built in 1902, stood on the north end of the complex until 1970. In his 1963 reader’s guide, Southwestern Book Trails, Lawrence Clark Powell described the Alvarado as “one of the last of the Harvey Houses, and the most beautiful of them all.” The inexplicable demolition of the landmark hotel left the city scarred for decades. Much of the complex has been rebuilt (in a reinterpretation of the original California Mission style) as the Alvarado Transportation Center, the city’s hub for Amtrak, Greyhound, and local mass transit. Locate historical markers along the sidewalk for additional information.
To return to the starting point, go one block west on Gold Ave. and one block south on 2nd St.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Gertrude Zachary’s Castle Antiques gertrudezachary.com, 416 2nd St. SW, 505-244-1320
First United Methodist Church fumconline.org, 314 Lead Ave. SW, 505-243-5646
Our Lady of Kazan Monastery kazanmonastery.org, 324 Hazeldine Ave. SW, 505-242-6186
B. Ruppe Drugs facebook.com/bruppedrugsinc, 807 4th St. SW, 505-243-6719
Juanita’s Comida Mexicana 910 4th St. SW, 505-843-9669
Red Ball Café redballcafe.com, 1301 4th St. SW, 505-247-9438
Small Engine Gallery smallenginegallery.com, 1413 4th St. SW
The TANNEX acebook.com/thetannex, 1417 4th St. SW
Barelas Coffee House 1502 4th St. SW, 505-843-7577
National Hispanic Cultural Center nhccnm.org, 1701 4th St. SW, 505-242-5289
La Fonda del Bosque lafondadelbosque.com, 1701 4th St. SW, 505-247-9480
El Modelo 1715 2nd St. SW, 505-242-1843
Wheels Museum wheelsmuseum.org, 1100 2nd St. SW, 505-243-6269
Rail Yards Market railyardsmarket.org, 777 1st St. SW, 505-203-6200
El Madrid Lounge 423 1st St. SW, 505-242-0829
Alvarado Transportation Center myabqride.com, 100 1st St. SW, 505-243-RIDE
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Start at the corner of 2nd St. and Silver Ave. and walk south.
2 Turn right on Lead Ave.
3 Turn left on 4th St.
4 Cross Bridge Blvd. and enter the campus for the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
5 Explore the campus at your leisure and return to Bridge Blvd.
6 Turn right on Bridge Blvd.
7 Turn left on 3rd St. and cross the dirt lot on the north side of the overpass.
8 Turn left on 2nd St.
9 Turn right on Iron Ave.
10 Turn left on 1st St.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
Connect with Walk 1 at the corner of 2nd and Gold.
Bronze sculpture of Dr. John A. Aragón at the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce on 4th St.
4 DOWNTOWN TO THE COUNTRY CLUB: MOVIN’ ON UP
BOUNDARIES: 8th St., Central Ave., Laguna Blvd., Tingley Dr.
DISTANCE: 3 miles, 4.25 miles with detour
DIFFICULTY: Moderate (unpaved surfaces)
PARKING: Free street parking on Silver Ave. west of 8th St. and at Tingley Beach
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Bus 66 on Central Ave. at 10th St.; buses 53 and 54 on 6th St. at Silver Ave.
This walk shuttles between the west end of downtown’s main drag and the south side of the Albuquerque Country Club. Though less than a mile apart, the two settings are nearly opposites in character. Along the way you’ll encounter more contrasts as you explore two distinct neighborhoods. The Raynolds Addition, which spans 8th–17th Streets, was platted in 1912. The blocks gradually filled in with bungalows, Southwest-style houses, and some of the city’s first apartment buildings. Some of the original structures were sacrificed in the “urban renewal” of the 1960s. Homes were razed to make way for businesses, and many of the lots sat empty for decades to follow. Recent efforts to revive neighborhood spirit include public art projects, xeric gardens, and tree sculpting. The Country Club area, spanning from 17th St. to Tingley Dr., was platted in 1928 as the Huning Castle Addition, named for the so-called castle built in the 1880s on an estate that spanned from Railroad (now Central) Ave. to the Rio Grande.
Start on the northeast corner of Silver and 8th. The former Southern Union Gas Company of New Mexico building was designed in the 1950s by quintessential Southwest architect John Gaw Meem, famed for concocting the “Sante Fe style” from a heady mix of Pueblo and Spanish Colonial architecture with a dash of modernism. Since 2005 the building has housed Flying Star Cafe, an extraordinarily popular local franchise. If you can’t get a seat, get a couple of sandwiches to go for picnicking later on. As the bakery smell suggests, the pastries here are also phenomenal.Across the street to the west is a relatively new development of four-story buildings with a classic live-work design. The sidewalk level accommodates office and retail space, while the upper floors are residential apartments.
Head north toward Central. Eller Apartments front the block north of Gold Ave. They were designed by Henry Trost for Dr. Charles Eller in 1922. Just ahead are the back sides of two more historic structures. The smaller yet stately one on the right is the John Pearce House. On the left is the Skinner Building, longtime home to a popular Italian restaurant, Villa di Capo, or simply Capo’s. Designed by former cabinetmaker A. W. Boehning and
