For well over a half century a traveler’s first impression of the American Southwest was through one of the many Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad stations and the associated hotel and restaurant operated by the Fred Harvey organization.
The Alvarado Hotel opened on May 11, 1902. Local businessmen and civic leaders expected that the building of the hotel “would attract the wealthier classes to stop in Albuquerque on their travels to the West.”
On January 2, 1970, the Alvarado Hotel closed its doors. On February 2, 1970 the wrecking crews began the removal of doors and windows as the first step toward final demolition. A small but valiant group of citizens staged a last ditch fight to save the Alvarado Hotel, but as too often happens, it was too late and too little supported.
More Alvarado Hotel
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- Rise, fall of Treasured Masterpiece
- Alvarado Hotel Collection
- Trail Dust: Once grand Alvarado Hotel now a fading memory