Martineztown Exhibits Audio Description

This sign is a 12-by 8-inch rectangle made of gray metal and is staked into the ground. This wayside should be the first stop on your walk through Historic Martineztown. The sign has a map of the historic route and will orient you to what you will see along the path here. Text reads, a Royal Walk Welcome to Martineztown Park and the retracements El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, or Royal Road of the Interior Lands. Walk in the footsteps of Spanish, Mexican and American explorers, settlers, soldiers, and missionaries. Your two-block stroll North from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Roma Ave represents a difficult six-month journey of more than 1600 miles. The trail passed through nine Mexican States and nine counties in Texas and New Mexico. Note their names and distances from Mexico City etched into the sidewalk along Edith Blvd. Second paragraph New Sights and Sounds. Travelers passed through grasslands, deserts, river valleys and mountains. They saw exotic new plants and animals. Look for the life and landmarks of El Camino Real on the tile murals along the sidewalk. Text below map, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro historic map. The map shows central Mexico and follows El Camino’s historic route including Texas and New Mexico. A red line represents the route and black dots mark the Mexican states the route passes through. Map enlargement focuses on the crossroads at Martineztown in Albuquerque.

Official Scenic Historic Marker: The sign is six feet high and six and a half wide, it is on a gravel slope above a stone retaining wall, a couple of feet to the right of the sidewalk. The brown metal sign has white text, and it is within a large rustic wooden frame. A red Zia Sun Symbol is carved into the wood at the top, in the center. Below the Zia, etched text reads, “Official Scenic Historic Marker. Text on the sign is in English and Spanish Sign title: Crossroads at Martineztown Main text: Martineztown is at the crossroads of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and Tijeras Canyon trail, two important trade routes begun by Native Americans. The trail through Tijeras Canyon linked the Rio Grande Valley to the plains east of the Sandia Mountains while the Camino Real primarily followed the river and became the Spanish trade route that brought European culture here beginning in 1598. Edith Boulevard follows the Camino Real and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, the Tijeras Canyon Trail. Today’s Martineztown was a paraje, a stopping off point for travelers on both trails, and still is a place where community, commerce, and culture come together.

You are standing on the sidewalk along the east side of Edith Blvd, and Marquette Avenue is behind you. In front of you is a slanted wayside panel, about four feet wide, three feet tall and about four feet off the ground on a flagstone retaining wall below the gravel slope. There is a red park bench a few feet south of the panel.

Wayside title, High Road of El Camino Real. Red banner at the top of the wayside panel has the triangular logo of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. Along with credits for the City of Albuquerque, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service.

The wayside has a map of El Camino through the Rio Grande Valley, historic photos and text in both English and Spanish.

Main text: For centuries, the 1,600 mile El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was the only road connecting Albuquerque to the outside world. It would become one of the villa’s leading economic assets as large convoys used it as a rendezvous point for trade up and down the Rio Grande Valley.

Soldiers, merchants, and explorers walked along a segment known as the “high road” which paralleled the Rio Grande Valley and is known today as Edith Blvd. They brought goods and customs that forever changed the land and culture of the area. During the Mexican and Early Territorial periods, travelers stopped to rest in the small settlement cluster and working village where Martineztown stands today.

At the center of the panel is a hand drawn map of the Rio Grande Valley pointing out major stops along El Camino, Names of the Pueblos, and the Sandia Mountain range. A black line runs top to bottom through the center of the map representing the Rio Grande. A Red line representing El Camino, follow the Rio Grande, crossing the river at a few points near Albuquerque.

Text below map reads, Spanish settlements in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, connected by El Camino and the Rio Grande. 1779 ( this from a map by Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco),

Text in the top right of panel is a quote from Zebulan Pike’s journal dated March 7, 1807. Marched at nine o’clock through a country better cultivated and inhabited than any I had yet seen. Arrived at Albuquerque, a village on the east side of Rio del Norte. […] Both above and below Albuquerque, the citizens were beginning to open canals, to let in the water of the river to fertilize the plains and fields which border its banks on both sides; where we saw men, women, and children, of all ages and sexes, at joyful labor which was to crown with rich abundance their future harvest and insure them plenty for the ensuing year. Those scenes brought to my recollection the bright descriptions given by Savary of opening of the canals in Egypt. The cultivation of the fields was commenced, and everything appeared to give life and gayety to the surrounding scenery. From the Journal of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, with Letters and Related Documents. 1st Edition by Donald Jackson. From the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman Oklahoma in 1966.

Photo below quoted text box is a black and white photo of a yoke of oxen pulling a wooden cart.

Text below ox photo reads, f or 300 years, oxen as well as mules pulled carros and carretas (like the one pictured above) on El Camino Real. These were the first wheeled vehicles used in North America. Vehicles move much faster along the stretch known today as Edith Boulevard.

Black and white photograph of two wagons laden with canvas bags full of wool. The stacks are taller than the men and mules standing round the wagons.

Text below this photo reads. Pictured above: two wagons loaded with wool to be sold to H.M. Hosick and Company at 400 West Railroad Ave (now Central Avenue) about 1890. Weaving was an important commercial and domestic activity in New Mexico throughout the Spanish Colonial Period and well into the Territorial era. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish along El Camino Real in 1598, neither wool nor the treadle loom was known in this region. End of wayside description.

You are at the intersection of Roma Avenue and Edith Blvd. In front of you is a slanted wayside panel. The sign is 42 inches by 24 inches. Southwest Pieta sculpture is on the right in front of you. The acequia is behind you across the sidewalk. Wayside Title A Community Spirit. Red banner at the top of the wayside panel has the triangular logo of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. Along with credits for the City of Albuquerque, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service. The wayside has a historic bird's eye view photograph of Martineztown, and additional historic photos of the neighborhood and the acequia. Text is in both English and Spanish. Text in the upper left of the panel, paragraph title, A Place to Rest. Like the park today, early Martineztown was a resting place. Weary travelers could relax, restock and regain their strength for the next leg of their journey. They left behind supplies and stories from their homelands. Black and white photograph of Martineztown from above. North is marked at the top of the photo to help orient the scene. Labels and arrows pointing out sites still visible on the ground today such as the historic roads we now call Edith Blvd, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Avenue. A dot at the corner of Edith Blvd and Roma Ave is labeled, “You are here”. Text below photograph reads, South Martineztown. The Acequia Madre and El Camino Real are visible in the photo circa 1931. The “Sand Hills” are to the right in the photo. Photo by Hawks. From the Albuquerque Museum Photo Collection. Paragraph on the right below the red banner, paragraph title, Rooted in History, Text reads, Life in early Martineztown was not easy. Travel on El Camino Real was tough. Together, settlers and travelers helped each other survive. That spirit of unity exists in Martineztown today. More than just a place to live, this neighborhood reflects the blended culture, connection to the land, and community spirit upon which it was founded. Photo below paragraph, a black and white photograph, with desert brush in the foreground, several single-story adobe buildings and sandy hills beyond them. Text below photograph reads, South Martineztown, circa 1900, with the “Sand Hills” in the background. A gray box in the center of the panel has a quote, “...of bleating goats, the wheezing, protesting bray burro, and the rhythmic thunk, thunk of an ax biting into sticks of firewood. On all sides could be heard the bubbling noises of children at play and the occasional yowling of an infant. From neighboring houses issued the rasping sound of women grinding corn on stone metates and the bump and clack of weavers at work on heavy Spanish looms.” This quote comes from Marc Simmons’ Hispanic Albuquerque, 1706-1846. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, 2003. Photo on the right side of panel, black and white photo of children playing alongside the acequia or agricultural ditch when the water is flowing. A boy kneels in the grasses along the ditch bank and a girl is standing next to him. Adobe buildings are in the background and other people are standing around them. Text below photo, Children play along the acequia madre in South Martineztown circa 1900. Quote on the right side of the panel “[The lands] are watered by the said river (Rio del Norte) through very wide, deep irrigation ditches, so much so that there are little beam bridges to cross them. The crops taken from them at harvest time are many and good... [...] The citizens are of all classes and walks of life, as in other places I have mentioned, and they speak the local Spanish. […] From the Spanish transcription of Friar Atanasio Domingues, The Missions of New Mexico 1776. Translated by Eleanor B Adams and Friar Angelico Chaves. University of New Mexico Press 1956. End of wayside description.

At the base of the statue is a plaque with a quote from the Poet, Rudolfo Anaya about the statue’s dedication. The text is in two columns, left is English text and Spanish is on the right. The top of the plaque displays the name of the sculpture, Southwest Pieta, and the artist’s name Luis Jimenez Jr., 1987. Text reads,

Commissioned by the city of Albuquerque, funded by the 1% for Art Program and the National Endowment for the Arts

In “Southwest Pieta,” sculptor Luis Jimenez Jr. has gone to pre-Hispanic Mexico for his inspiration. He has chosen a popular legend to illustrate the enriching of the new world. At the same time, he plays homage to the Native American heritage which the Hispanos found in New Mexico.

The pre-Hispanic Indians of Mexico conceived of their universe in dualities: light and dark, male and female. These are exemplified by the two large volcanoes near Mexico City – Popocatépetl, the male mountain and Iztaccihuatl, the female mountain.

Many stories are told about the two majestic, snow-covered volcanoes. Once these two mountains were living people, an Aztec warrior and a woman he loved. But their love was not destined to be. The woman dies, the warrior is overcome with grief. In “Southwest Pieta,” we see the warrior and the woman at this moment of death and grief, and we share their anguish. But the story tells us their love was so strong that even in death their souls are transformed into the spirit and form of the volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl.

This this legend of tragedy and love is well known in Mexico and is known throughout the Southwest because it moved north with Mexican settlers.

It is most appropriate that this sculpture will have our Albuquerque mountains as its background. The mountains incorporate our feeling as a community and reconcile earth and sky. Both art and the earth remind us of the rich cultures of the Rio Grande Valley, and what each heritage has to lend to the other. Rudolfo A. Anaya End of quote.

The stone feature wall is a decorative wall about 15 feet tall composed of red and brown sandstone. There is a low bench for sitting on one side of the wall. In the center of the wall is the Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown logo; a shield with a Zia Sun Symbol at the bottom, a diagonal stripe across the middle and three crosses in the top right corner. On the left and right side of the shield are two information panels featuring a timeline of events in Martineztown and the history of this neighborhood. A text mosaic piece across the bottom of the wall reads "Martineztown is not for sale!"

Metal panel on the right side of the stone wall. Paragraph title “A Small Neighborhood with a Rich History”

Paragraph text, The South Martineztown community, under the leadership of the Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown or (CICM), has been transformed from a settlement cluster into a compact and modern urban community. Located at the key crossroads of the Tijeras Canyon and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trails, and the Acequia Madre, the community is one of the oldest settlements in Albuquerque and has been a contributing force in its quality of life ever since it was first populated by settlers in 1820s. Originally prime summer pasture land and resting place for weary travelers, the Martineztown area became a highly desirable place in which to invest during railroad boom years (into the early 1900s), and later with the arrival of the Pan American Highway (1956). This central location and diverse population have also made the neighborhood a hub of cultural and political conflict, leading to courageous fights against discrimination, economic marginalization and proposed redevelopment. The community is well known for its bold protest against the Urban Renewal Condemnation in the early 1970s and the use of the slogan “Martineztown is not for sale!” As a result of the tenacity and commitment of the unified neighborhood force, it has been able to transform itself through the decades creating a modern gateway to downtown Albuquerque that maintains the residential character of the historic community.

A black and white photograph below the paragraph shows protestors marching across the highway. Many are holding signs and waving flags. Most notably, the people marching at the front of the crowd wave the flags of the United States, Mexico, and New Mexico. People of all ages are marching.

Timeline of Martineztown history

1706 - Villa de Alburquerque established

Pre-1800s- vicinity of current day Martineztown exists as resting place or paraje along El Camino Real

1820s- Casa Roma settlement cluster, first permanent settlement of Martineztown

1832 Acequia Madre constructed through Martineztown

1876- Friar Donato Gasparri, SJ. acquires land in Casa Roma Settlement Cluster, prevents area from being subdivided

1889- Second Spanish Presbyterian Church established

1891- Part of Martineztown is included in the Original Townsite of the Town, later the city of Albuquerque

1893 First Ward School built on southeast corner of Grand Avenue (now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) and Edith Blvd

1902- Sisters of Charity found St Joseph Sanitarium

1916- San Ignacio de Loyola Church dedicated

1920- Electric and telephone service is extended to Martineztown

1924- Manuel's Market opens

1925- part of Martineztown is included in a 4,166-acre annexation by the City of Albuquerque

1927- the original Longfellow Elementary school is constructed

1939- City waterlines extended to Martineztown

1954- City’s first zoning code adopted. South Martineztown zoned for institutional and commercial activities

1957 Civic Auditorium constructed

Early 1960s- Interstate 25 built

1970 Urban Renewal Condemnation declared South Martineztown a blighted slum and substandard neighborhood

1971- May 17th Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown organizes community protest March on City Hall

1972- Community of South Martineztown turns condemnation into redevelopment

1973- Martineztown Park constructed

1979- Original Longfellow school building condemned residents fight to keep it in the neighborhood

1983- New Longfellow School opens with emphasis on Spanish and the Arts

1988- Southwest Pieta installed (its Sculptor Luis Jiménez Jr.)

1999- South Martineztown listed on Superfund National Priority Listing

1999- Southwest Pieta declared a National Treasure by Whitehouse Millennium Council

2004 South Martineztown area given Federal Disaster Declaration due to storm line and sewer line collapse

2007 Fruit Ave Plume Superfund becomes operational

2009 Longfellow school undergoes expansion

2011 Fortieth anniversary of Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown, gifting of Charity Commemorative “Angelitas de Caridad” (Artist: Linda Dabeau) to the citizens of Albuquerque, completion of fountain Plaza, Civic Auditorium Plaza and Acequia Madre Crossing commemoratives

2016 El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail and Tijeras Canyon Crossroads Commemorative dedicated