The Santa Fe Depot was a historic railroad station in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, which burned down in 1993. It was originally built by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

in 1902 along with the neighboring Alvarado Hotel. After the hotel was razed in 1970, the depot remained in use by ATSF and then

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passenger trains. The building was listed on the

New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural ...

in 1981 and was designated an Albuquerque Historic Landmark.

History

The Santa Fe Depot was built in 1902, replacing an earlier two-story wooden building. It was part of a larger complex that also included the Alvarado Hotel, an "Indian Building" where tourists could buy southwestern curios, and various outbuildings. The depot and hotel were designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey and built by Anson & Holman at a total cost of about $80,000. In 1912, the depot was badly damaged by a fire which destroyed the south end of the building, damaged the tall, three-tiered tower, and gutted the ticket office and baggage rooms. Following the fire, the tower was rebuilt at a lower height. It was lowered still further during a 1944 remodeling. During the early 20th century, notable people frequently passed through the station, and crowds would gather when word was received that celebrities like

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

would be arriving. In 1970, amid declining train traffic, the Santa Fe Railway closed and demolished the Alvarado Hotel. The depot remained in use, and was designated an Albuquerque Historic Landmark, which was intended to protect it from meeting the same fate. However, it was destroyed by a fire on January 4, 1993. In 2006 the depot was replaced by a new Amtrak and

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

terminal on the same site which is part of the Alvarado Transportation Center multi-modal transit facility. The replacement station features a similar design to the original, with a tiled roof, arcade, and tower.

Architecture

Like the Alvarado, the depot was designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in the

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

style. It was a rectangular, one-story building, , and surrounded by a wide

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

that originally connected to the hotel. Other Mission-style details included a hipped tile roof with a curved parapet and a stepped tower. The building was constructed from timber framing with a

pebbledash Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown ...

stucco exterior applied to a layer of wire

lath A lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in lattice and trellis work. ''Lath'' has expanded to mean any type of backing m ...

. After the destruction of the Alvarado Hotel, the depot was considered to be Albuquerque's best remaining example of Mission style architecture. In 1978, preservationist Susan Dewitt wrote, "For most of its life, the depot was seen mainly as one part of the beautiful hotel and station complex. Now, standing in isolation, it is all that is left to remind us of the style and elegance that was once an essential part of the Santa Fe."

References

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Railway stations in the United States opened in 1902 New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties Mission Revival architecture in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Albuquerque, New Mexico Burned buildings and structures in the United States Buildings and structures demolished in 1993 Railway stations in New Mexico Demolished buildings and structures in New Mexico