Timeline of Albuquerque, New Mexico facts for kids

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, US.

History as a town

• 1706 – Town founded as a trading post between the Tiwa Puebloan peoples and the Hispanos in Nuevo México by Francisco Cuervo y Valdés for New Spain.
• 1793 – San Felipe de Neri Church built.
• 1837 – Unrest.
• 1846 – U.S. army fort built.
• 1850 – Town becomes part of U.S. New Mexico Territory.
• 1862 – Town occupied by Confederate troops before being retaken by the Union Army.
• 1867 – Military post closes.
• 1873 – Jesuit College established.
• 1879 – Albuquerque High School established.
• 1880
  • Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway depot built near town.
  • New town platted.
  • Albuquerque Daily Journal newspaper begins publication.
  • Albuquerque Indian School and Albuquerque Street Railway Company established.
• 1881
  • Territorial Exposition held.
  • Menaul School established.
• 1882
  • First Methodist Episcopal Church built in new town.
  • Albuquerque Browns baseball team and St. Vincent Academy established.
  • Park Van Tassel makes the first balloon flight in New Mexico Territory on July 4 at New Town.
• 1883
  • Germania club founded.
  • Ladies' Library Association active.
• 1885
  • New town of Albuquerque chartered.
  • Henry Jaffa elected mayor of new town.
• 1889 – University of New Mexico founded.
• 1890 – Population: 3,785.

History as a city

• 1891
  • New Albuquerque incorporated as a city.
  • El Defensor del Pueblo newspaper begins publication.
• 1894 – Harwood Industrial School established.
• 1895 – La Bandera Americana newspaper begins publication.
• 1897 – El Nuevo Mundo newspaper begins publication.
• 1899 – Southwestern Brewery and Ice Company building constructed.
• 1901 – Albuquerque Public Library opens.
• 1902 – Alvarado Hotel in business.
• 1903
  • Albuquerque Business College established.
  • American Lumber Company mill opens.
• 1904 – Electric streetcar begins operating.
• 1906 – Southwest Presbyterian Sanatorium founded.
• 1910 – Population: 11,020.
• 1912
  • City becomes part of the new State of New Mexico.
  • New Mexico State Fair begins.
  • Albuquerque Independent Society formed.
  • "First meeting of the New Mexico League of Municipalities was held in Albuquerque"
• 1914
  • Albuquerque High School building constructed.
  • Home Circle Club chartered.
• 1917 – City Charter adopted.
• 1919 – New Mexico Workers Chronicle begins publication.
• 1920 – People's Sanatorium opens.
• 1922 – First National Bank Building (Albuquerque) constructed.
• 1924 – Sunshine Theatre opens.
• 1925 – Santa Fe Railway Shops (Albuquerque) built.
• 1926 – Courthouse relocated to New Town from Old Town.
• 1927
  • Rio Grande Zoo opens.
  • KiMo Theater built.
• 1928
  • Oxnard Field, Albuquerque's first airport, is constructed.
  • KGGM radio begins broadcasting.
• 1929
  • First commercial airline service by Western Air Express and Transcontinental Air Transport
  • West Mesa Airport constructed.
• 1930 – Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express merge to become TWA.
• 1932 – Museum of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico established.
• 1933 – KKOB (AM) radio headquartered in city.
• 1934 – Continental Airlines begins service.
• 1936 – Albuquerque Little Theater dedicated.
• 1938 – Lobo Theater and New Mexico State Fair grounds open.
• 1939
  • Albuquerque Municipal Airport constructed.
  • Hilton Hotel built.
• 1942 – Kirtland Air Force Base established.
• 1942-1944 – Royal Air Force cadets, flying from the British base at Terrell, Texas, fly to Albuquerque frequently on training flights, using it as a stand-in for Warsaw, Poland.
• 1943 – POW Camp Albuquerque established.
• 1946 – U.S. military Sandia Base (nuclear weapons installation) active.
• 1947 – Old Town Historical Society established.
• 1948 – Ernie Pyle House/Library branch established.
• 1949 – Old Town annexed to city.
• 1954 – Simms Building constructed.
• 1956 – Albuquerque Petroleum Club founded.
• 1957 – Tingley Coliseum dedicated.
• 1959 – Uncle Cliff's Kiddieland opens.
• 1960 – New Mexico Genealogical Society headquartered in city.
• 1961
  • Winrock Shopping Center in business.
  • Bank of New Mexico Building constructed.
  • TWA begins the first commercial jet service with the Boeing 707 and the Convair 880.
• 1963
  • Circle Autoscope Drive-In cinema opens.
  • First National Bank Building East constructed.
  • Albuquerque Municipal Airport renamed to Albuquerque Sunport
• 1965
  • New terminal opens at the Albuquerque Sunport.
  • Coronado Center shopping mall in business.
  • Albuquerque Press Club founded.
• 1967 – Albuquerque Museum of Art and History established.
• 1970 – Anti-war protest.
• 1972
  • Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta begins.
  • Glenwood Hills Association established.
• 1974
  • City adopts mayor-council form of government.
  • TWA begins the first jumbo jet aircraft service with the Lockheed 1011.
• 1976 – Indian Pueblo Cultural Center opens.
• 1979
  • National Solar Thermal Test Facility established.
  • TWA begins the first nonstop flights to New York.
  • American Airlines begins service.
• 1980
  • Southwest Airlines begins service.
  • Population: 331,767.
• 1982 United Airlines begins service.
• 1983 Delta Air Lines begins service.
• 1986
  • Albuquerque Petroleum Building constructed.
  • New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science founded.
• 1987-1989 Albuquerque International Sunport undergoes a major expansion.
• 1990
  • Albuquerque Plaza built.
  • American International Rattlesnake Museum opens.
  • Population: 384,736.
• 1991 – National Museum of Nuclear Science & History chartered.
• 1993 – ¡Explora! Science Center and Children's Museum opens.
• 1994
  • Albuquerque Poetry Slam begins.
• 1996
  • April: City website online.
  • Rio Grande Botanic Garden and Albuquerque Aquarium open.
  • Cottonwood Mall (Albuquerque, New Mexico) in business.
• 1997 – Jim Baca elected mayor.
• 2000 – National Hispanic Cultural Center opens.
• 2002 – Alvarado Transportation Center opens.
• 2003 – Metropolitan Courthouse built.
• 2004 – Albuquerque Sikh Gurudwara established.
• 2005
  • Duke City Derby (roller derby) league formed.
  • Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum opens.
  • ¡Globalquerque! music fest begins.
• 2007 – Alamosa Skatepark built.
• 2009 – Richard J. Berry becomes mayor.
• 2010 – Population: 545,852.
• 2011 – I-25/Paseo Del Norte interchange planned.
• 2012 – Population: 555,417.
• 2013 – I-25/Paseo Del Norte interchange construction started.
• 2015 – Panhandler jobs program begins.
• 2017 – Tim Keller is elected Mayor