Albuquerque's First Hotels
Albuquerque's first hotel was the Atlantic and Pacific, which opened soon after the Civil War in Old Town. "One of its earliest guests was a Denver newspaper reporter who proclaimed it the 'worst-kept hotel in the Territory.' Perhaps a reputation for slovenliness, with a corresponding shortage of customers, prompted owner John Murphy in 1874 to sell his hostelry to John B. Brophy. Mr. Brophy made a gallant bid to turn the business around by adding modern furnishings, better housekeeping and by putting his wife in charge of the kitchen. But his best efforts proved unavailing, and the following year he sold out to Thomas D. Post."
Post's "first act was to change the name to Post's Exchange Hotel, which proved all that was needed to turn its fortunes around. Overnight it became the favored stop in the Middle Valley, and stagecoaches running from Las Cruces to Santa Fe regularly called at its door." 1
The first grand hotel in New Town Albuquerque was the Armijo House, shown below. It was located at the southwest corner of 3rd Street and Railroad (Central) Avenue, and was "an eye-catching hotel of frame, three stories high with a mansard roof. Owner Mariano Armijo thought that the up-to-date 'city style' would attract guests more quickly than the traditional adobe architecture of the hostelries near the plaza. A. S. "Scott" Moore, the manager, set out to make the Armijo House the best in the Territory, and, according to testimonials of satisfied customers, he succeeded. One of his first rules was that patrons must wear coats in the dining room. Two work-clad cowboys immediately challenged the edict by forcing their way to a table. When Moore ordered them to leave, they came at him with their fists and a brawl erupted, of the wild free-swinging variety usually seen only in saloons. The manager bested both men and sent them flying through the front door. It was a small victory for gentility in rough-and-tumble Albuquerque." 2
1 Marc Simmons, Albuquerque: A Narrative History, (University of New Mexico Press,) p. 203 - 204.
2 Marc Simmons, Albuquerque: A Narrative History, (University of New Mexico Press,) p. 226.
Post's "first act was to change the name to Post's Exchange Hotel, which proved all that was needed to turn its fortunes around. Overnight it became the favored stop in the Middle Valley, and stagecoaches running from Las Cruces to Santa Fe regularly called at its door." 1
The first grand hotel in New Town Albuquerque was the Armijo House, shown below. It was located at the southwest corner of 3rd Street and Railroad (Central) Avenue, and was "an eye-catching hotel of frame, three stories high with a mansard roof. Owner Mariano Armijo thought that the up-to-date 'city style' would attract guests more quickly than the traditional adobe architecture of the hostelries near the plaza. A. S. "Scott" Moore, the manager, set out to make the Armijo House the best in the Territory, and, according to testimonials of satisfied customers, he succeeded. One of his first rules was that patrons must wear coats in the dining room. Two work-clad cowboys immediately challenged the edict by forcing their way to a table. When Moore ordered them to leave, they came at him with their fists and a brawl erupted, of the wild free-swinging variety usually seen only in saloons. The manager bested both men and sent them flying through the front door. It was a small victory for gentility in rough-and-tumble Albuquerque." 2
1 Marc Simmons, Albuquerque: A Narrative History, (University of New Mexico Press,) p. 203 - 204.
2 Marc Simmons, Albuquerque: A Narrative History, (University of New Mexico Press,) p. 226.
Armijo House,1886. Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico.