Turn right on Lead Ave., the first of three one-way streets that divide the south side of the neighborhood and discourage pedestrian traffic. Walk three blocks west to Broadway Blvd.
Turn left on Broadway and go south one block to Coal Ave. The Broadway Market, on the northwest corner of Broadway and Coal, was once a combined store and house known as the Vance Market. Dating back to 1910, this two-story redbrick structure was the childhood home of Vivian Vance, the actress best remembered for her role as Ethel Mertz on the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy.
Turn left on Coal and walk east. The urban decay that the Huning Highland Historic District Association has long fought persists along the fringes. (The original south boundary is Hazeldine Ave., but the current historic zone extends slightly past Iron Ave.) At the northeast corner of Coal and Walter is a former Conoco gas station built in the style of an English cottage to fit into its residential surroundings. In 1997 it was dedicated as the H. B. and Lucille Horn Preservation Station and now serves as a meeting venue for The Albuquerque Conservation Association. A community garden with chicken coops is on the east side of the station.
Hotel Parq Central
Turn left on High St. Two blocks north is St. George Greek Orthodox Church, site of a hugely popular Grecian Festival that falls on the first week of October. Across the street is a private residence converted from the old Albuquerque Fire Station 2, which sounds like an incredibly fun place to live until you consider that it’s a single-story building, so it probably never had a fire pole.
Turn right on Silver Ave. The Mary Strong House, on the corner of Elm St., was built in 1910 upon a foundation of cemented pebble stones native to the site. It’s hard to imagine now that the city once ended here at the foot of barren sandhills, the same escarpment that runs east of Edith Blvd. all the way up to Rattlesnake Mesa (visited on Walk 13) and beyond.
Turn left into Highland Park and follow the paved walkway to the top of the hill. The three-story log cabin there is the work of Charles Whittlesey, chief architect for the AT&SF Railway. His inspiration for the design was a Norwegian villa, which also influenced his design for the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon that same year. Whittlesey and his family lived in his dream home for a scant four years before his interest in peeled log cuts waned in favor of reinforced concrete. The cabin has a long and colorful history, though little is recorded about what happened within its walls from 1960 to 1966, when it served as a frat house. The building is plagued with paranormal activity, all of it harmless yet entirely inexplicable, even to jaded journalists who’ve witnessed the phenomena firsthand. Since 1973 it has been home to the Albuquerque Press Club. And like most press clubs, it’s private, but you can probably talk your way in. Be warned, however, that it’s not easy to leave the warm pub atmosphere once cozied up to the bar.
Stagger down the driveway to Gold Ave. and continue straight on Elm. On your right is the Hotel Parq Central, which could easily qualify for the handsomest building in town despite its grim history. By the 1920s the AT&SF Railroad had well over 1,000 employees. Not surprisingly in this early era of heavy industry and huge machinery, work-related injuries were drastically high. Railroad execs responded by building the city’s first medical facilities, collectively known as Santa Fe Hospital. The one on Elm was later renamed AT&SF Hospital. In the 1970s and early 1980s it served as a children’s psychiatric ward known as Memorial Hospital. Spirits that allegedly circulate the building today are often described as the ghosts of children, though former patients attest the place was thoroughly haunted before they arrived. Best not to dwell on its grim past and instead enjoy another round of spirits in its hip rooftop lounge, the Apothecary.
Continue straight on Elm to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. The dark brick building is the Old St. Joseph’s Hospital, completed in 1930—four years later than the hospital you last saw. This one is Romanesque in style, while the previous was distinctly Italianate. The difference in appearance from ground level is like night and day. Viewed from above, however, the size and shape of their diagonally winged designs are almost identical.
Turn left on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. and walk one block west.
Turn left on High St. The establishment at 209 High St. was known as the Freeman Boarding House shortly after World War II. One of its first tenants was David Greenglass, a machinist assigned to the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. On June 2, 1945, Greenglass sold diagrams for the atomic bomb to KGB operative Harry Gold for $500. The exchange occurred in room four of the boarding house. Later arrested by American counterintelligence, Gold ratted out Greenglass, who in turn ratted out his own sister, Ethel Rosenberg, and her husband, Julius. After refusing to testify to their alleged role in this plot of espionage, the Rosenbergs were executed on June 19, 1953. The Freeman Boarding House Apartments is now a quaint bed-and-breakfast known as the Downtown Historic Bed & Breakfast, featuring the Spy House and the Heritage House next door.Across the street, Alhambra Apartments use porthole windows and arabesque designs as a playful reference to Alhambra, a palatial fortress complex 7 miles west of Santa Fe, Spain. The reference seems to end there, since the apartments’ overall look is a mix of Pueblo and California Mission styles, and its interior living spaces were built on an absurdly dwarfish scale.By contrast, the Mrs. T. I. Butts House, at 201 High St., is a robust, no-nonsense construction of wood and cast stone. Built in the late Queen Anne style, the house is named for a principal of the First Ward School in the early 20th century.
Turn right on Copper Ave. Standing on the corner of Walter St., the McQuade House is a highly ornamented cottage with an octagonal gazebo porch. Its first resident, J. W. McQuade, was the architect for the John Milne House (visited on Walk 4).
Turn right on Edith. The Mike Ehrmantraut House, residence for the badass hit man in the Breaking Bad series, is the third house on the right. (He doesn’t live there anymore, so respect the privacy of the current residents.)
Turn left on Tijeras Ave. and walk past the north end of the Old Albuquerque High School campus.
Turn left on Broadway to return to the starting point.Notable architect and celebrated tubaist Mark Weaver fondly recalls his favorite features on the walk: “My mom graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1953. She used to hang out at the Highland Drugstore, which was on the southeast corner of Central and Broadway, and would frequent the library at Central and Edith, which at that time was the only public library in town. . . . There are so many fascinating houses in this neighborhood, but my particular favorite is the Cristy House with all its octagonal structural elements.”
POINTS OF INTEREST
The Lofts at Albuquerque High (EDo Spaces) abqhigh.com, 401 Central Ave. NE, Suite D, 505-247-3935
Standard Diner standarddiner.com, 320 Central Ave. SE, 505-243-1440
Special Collections Library abclibrary.org/specialcollections, 423 Central Ave. NE, 505-848-1376
Artichoke Cafe artichokecafe.com, 424 Central Ave. SE, 505-243-0200
Grove