Albuquerque Walking Tour: Huning Highlands Neighborhood

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

The Engineering Geek and I jumped at the chance to escort four boys from the EMHS Freshman Humanities class on a walking tour of Old Albuquerque. Although I had done a walking tour of the Presidio in Tucson once, I had never had a guided walk about in my adopted hometown.

This blog entry shows features of the Hunning Highlands neighborhood. Developed by Hunning, a railroad tycoon from Germany, this area lies east of the railroad tracks and west of the freeway. The houses were built in the late 1800s, and are wonderful exampes of how the merchant class of Albuquerque lived over 100 years ago.

This is a restored Queen Anne style house, but it also has some Craftsman features. Such houses were for the upper middle class of the day, and now the restored treasures are housing those who can afford to be part of the Near Downtown Revitalization project. This house is for sale!

The Old Albuquerque Public Library building on Central Avenue now houses the Geneology Collection. It is built in the Pueblo Revival style. The boys thought it looked like many of the buildings on UNM's Main Campus, and it does, as those buildings are also Pueblo Revival.

The Daily Grind Coffee Shop occupies an old house on Central Avenue, next door to the Artichoke Cafe. Chile Ristras hang from the gingerbread eaves, a common sign of autumn in the Land of Red or Green (chile, that is!).

After walking most of the Hunning Highlands neighborhood, the boys felt the need of a little caffeine. They felt very sophisticated, sipping their mocha's on a cool autumn morning during school hours.

That is the Boychick in the Fedora!

The last landmark before leaving Hunning Highlands for the Near East Downtown area was the Old Albuquerque High School Building. Built in the classic turn-of-the-19th century style, it boasted marble halls and wide staircases. Now being made into Condos and Lofts, it reminds me of the high school I graduated from in Illinois. In the right foreground is an apartment building made from one of later AHS annexes.

I was taken aback by how differently I saw this neighborhood on foot. I usually speed by on Central Avenue, or Lead or Coal!

Next week: Near East Downtown and Downtown.