Historical Marker
Crossroads at Martineztown
Albuquerque, Bernalillo County · New Mexico
The neighborhood is named for Manuel Martín, who moved his family out from Old Town around 1850 to farm here. Residents built a Presbyterian mission church in 1889 and the Catholic San Ignacio in 1916, founded by a French-born priest the parish called Padre José. Albuquerque annexed Martineztown in 1898 and Santa Barbara, to its north, in 1948. Historians Joseph Sánchez and Larry Miller write that investors bought land here for a century while its Hispanic residents were looked down on and discriminated against by the rest of the city.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Crossroads at Martineztown 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. Official Scenic Historic Marker Cruce en Martineztown Martineztown se encuentra al cruce del Camino Real de Tierra Adentro y la Senda del Cañón de Tijeras, dos rutas comerciales importantes comenzadas por Americanos Nativos. La senda a través del Cañón de Tijeras conectaba el Valle del Río Grande a los llanos al este de las Montañas de Sandía, mientras el Camino Real primordialmente seguía el río y se convirtió en la ruta Española de comercio que trajo aquí la cultura Europea, a partir de 1598. Edith Boulevard sigue el Camino Real, mientras que la Avenida Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sigue la Senda del Cañón de Tijeras. La actual Martineztown fue un paraje, un punto de parada para viajeros de ambos senderos y sigue siendo un lugar donde la comunidad, el comercio y la cultura se unen.
Where it stands
35.08616, -106.64157 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Petroglyph National Monument — 7.0 miSome 24,000 images pecked into the dark basalt of Albuquerque's West Mesa, protected in 1990 and then crossed by a city boulevard.