Martineztown-Santa Barbara is a neighborhood in central Albuquerque, New Mexico, immediately northeast of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. Originating as a small farming village in the 1850s, it is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and retains a distinct character, with winding streets, irregular lots, and

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

vernacular buildings reminiscent of other old Hispanic communities in northern New Mexico.

Name

Historically, Martineztown and Santa Barbara were separate communities, though today they are generally considered to form a single neighborhood. with Martineztown is named for its founding settlers, the Martín family, possibly via an Anglicization of ''Los Martines''. Prior to becoming known by its present name, the area was usually referred to as "Dog Town". Santa Barbara is named for the Santa Barbara Cemetery, which still exists as part of Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Geography

Santa Barbara-Martineztown is bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks, Menaul Boulevard, and

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

. Interstate 40 runs through the northern part of the neighborhood on an elevated viaduct, intersecting I-25 at the Big I. Historically, the neighborhood's main axis was Edith Boulevard; Broadway Boulevard is the other major north-south route and separates the residential part of the neighborhood from the warehouse district adjacent to the railroad tracks. The main east-west arterials are Lomas Boulevard, Mountain Road, and Odelia Road. The northeastern part of the neighborhood includes two large

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

as well as Albuquerque High School, while several blocks in the southeast corner are occupied by Lovelace Medical Center. The neighborhood's terrain consists of rolling sandhills leading up to the East Mesa.

Demographics

As of the 2010 Census, Martineztown-Santa Barbara had a total population of 2,716 and 65% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

History

In the 1700s, the sandhills that make up Martineztown were a common area used by residents of

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

to graze their sheep. Separated from Old Town by marshlands, the area was accessible via the Old Carnuel Trail (now Mountain Road) and a section of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro called ''El Camino del Lado'' (Side Road) which skirted the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

valley floor. This later became the old Bernalillo Road and then Edith Boulevard. A small agricultural community developed after Manuel Martín and his family moved to the area around 1850. Irrigation for farming was provided by the Acequia Madre de los Barelas, which also brought water to the downstream community of Barelas. The land was divided into narrow lots fronting on the acequia as in other farming communities in the region. The development of Martineztown accelerated after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached Albuquerque in 1880, and much of the present neighborhood dates from this period. In the early 1900s, the adjacent community of Santa Barbara began to develop as well. The communities centered on Edith Boulevard, which was lined with stores, dance halls, and other small businesses. Area residents built a Presbyterian church,

Second United Presbyterian Church Second United Presbyterian Church (also known as La Segunda Iglesia Presbyteriana Unida ; Second Church) is a historic Presbyterian church at 812 Edith Boulevard, NE in Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, ...

, in 1889, and a Catholic church, San Ignacio Church, in 1916. Martineztown was annexed by the city of Albuquerque in 1898, followed by Santa Barbara in 1948. Starting in the 1940s, the neighborhood's physical condition began to deteriorate. City leaders viewed the low-income, mostly Hispanic area as blighted and believed the land could be better used as an extension of

. Zoning regulations enacted in 1959 designated most of Martineztown for commercial and industrial use, eroding the neighborhood's low-density residential character and discouraging new home construction in favor of industrial and storage facilities. In 1971, neighborhood residents successfully organized to fight a large-scale

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project that would have razed the southern end of the neighborhood to build a new campus for Albuquerque High School. Instead, the school was built on vacant land near

. Still, tensions with the city government have continued to simmer. In 2018, neighborhood activists launched a new lawsuit against the city alleging discriminatory zoning regulations.

Points of interest

Martineztown-Santa Barbara has four properties which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: *

Old St. Joseph Hospital The Old St. Joseph Hospital is a historic hospital building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1929–30 as an expansion of the original St. Joseph Hospital, which opened in 1902. The hospital was run by the Sisters of Charity of Cinc ...

* San Ignacio Church * Santa Barbara School *

One other property, the F.M. Mercantile, is listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties.

Education

Albuquerque Public Schools operates two schools in Martineztown-Santa Barbara: Longfellow Elementary School and Albuquerque High School. Longfellow serves students who live south of Interstate 40, while those to the north attend Cochiti Elementary. Older students in the neighborhood are assigned to Jefferson Middle School and Albuquerque High. Albuquerque Charter Academy is also located in the neighborhood.

Transportation

ABQ Ride ABQ RIDE (City of Albuquerque Transit Department) is the local transit agency serving Albuquerque, New Mexico. ABQ RIDE operates a variety of city bus routes including two Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) bus rapid transit lines and one ARTx exp ...

operates public transit in the neighborhood, including the 5 Montgomery-Carlisle, 6 Indian School Commuter, 8 Menaul, 11 Lomas, 12 Constitution Commuter, 16 Broadway-University-Gibson, 50 Airport-Downtown, and 92 Taylor Ranch Express city bus routes.

References

{{reflist Neighborhoods in Albuquerque, New Mexico