Walk # 7 – 2023 Troche Moche Walk Route

May 18, 2023 by David Ryan

Albuquerque Jane’s Walks

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Wells Park Troche Moche Walk

(Approximately 2.25 miles)

Jane’s Walks Background:

Jane’s Walks are held in over 200 cities worldwide and are named after Jane Jacobs who was a pioneer in protecting urban neighborhoods. Her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is credited with starting the urban revival movement. The volunteer-led walks are held on the first weekend of May to celebrate her birthday.

With most of Albuquerque developed after World War Two and built for driving, this walk is a refreshing alternative it goes through a neighborhood that was meant to be walked. Walkable neighborhoods have sidewalks, narrower streets, houses closer to the sidewalk, and a mixture of commercial and residential activities.

2023 Troche Moche Walk:

Our walk begins at the Julianna Kirwin Printmaking Studio at the NW corner of 8^th and Mountain.

Julianna’s house was once a grocery store

Mountain Road was the route between Old Town and the mountains

Rumor Pizza at the SE corner was once a gas station and has had several incarnations as a coffee shop and the like

Stephan Watson is responsible for renovating several buildings in the immediate area. Many of his renovated houses are decorated with tiles from his Santa Fe Tile company.

8^th Street:

From Julianna’s house we’ll walk north on 8^th Street and pass some houses renovated by Stephan Watson.

As we walk north we’ll pass a variety of houses of different ages

Three homes have been constructed in the past four years just on the west side of this one-block stretch of 8^th

The small house on the east side of 8^th that is adjacent to the sidewalk was once a small shop

Along the way there is very interesting landscaping and outdoor decoration

100 years ago there was an acequia running along the wooden fence line between 1251 and 1253 8th Street. That former acequia is responsible for the stub end of 10^th Street and building lot lines with unusual angles.

At 8^th & Summer, check out the “Bedouin Have the Right of Way” sign on the utility pole at the SE corner

The house on the north side of Summer with the blue wall in front of it (2 or 3 houses east of 8th) was once a small grocery store

Just north of Summer on the east side of 8th, there is a light stand that changes its display with the Holiday season (the owner of the light display is also responsible for the Bedouin sign)

The house at the SW corner of 8^th & Kinley had been abandoned for the past three years. New owners bought the house a couple of months ago and are now renovating it.

Kinley Street:

Turn Left onto Kinley. You may notice that the alley heads north from Kinley. At one time that alley also went south to Mountain. At Forrester, turn right. We’ll be jogging over to the continuation of Kinley.

Just before turning back on to Kinley, the house on the east side of Forrester has a great wooden gate with an image of the sun. (A photo of that gate was in the Journal’s article about our walks last year.)

This portion of Kinley has the feeling of a country lane. The unusual routing was probably due to an old acequia route.

There are several interesting homes along the way with great landscaping

As we get to the end of Kinley, there is a Descanso for a young man who died there several years ago.

Several years ago, Kinley continued west to join Sawmill/Bellamah just east of 12^th

We’ll turn left onto 11th Street.

11th Street:

As we make the turn onto 11th, the house on the left has the 10 Commandments on the fence pillars.

Again there is a nice mixture of homes and even a home with chickens

Just before reaching Arias Avenue, there is a new home (last couple of years) on the east side of 11th Street. It’s worth noting that there continues to be ongoing investment in the neighborhood to complement the houses already in place. It’s this mixture that makes the neighborhood so interesting.

Arias Avenue:

Turn right onto Arias to reach 12th Street. Once on 12th Street, we’ll be picking up Martha’s walk from last year.

12th Street:

We’ll walk north on 12th to the Sawmill/Bellamah intersection. It’s worth mentioning that:

100 years ago Albuquerque’s two main industries were the Railyards and the Sawmill District just up ahead.
- The Sawmill industry declined in the 1940s
- The Railyards declined in the early 1950s when steam engines were replace by diesel engines

100 years ago there was an electric streetcar line connecting the two

Much of the older housing in Wells Park was built to accommodate workers at the Sawmill

From here we’ll use much of the narrative from the original walk routing:

We’ll soon reach the corner of 12^th Street and Bellamah. Prior to the houses in the area, there were apple orchards from the late 19th century into the twenties on the land stretching to the south which belonged to the Jesuit priests in Old Town.

As we stand on the corner of Bellamah and 12th, we are next to the Durán Tomás Durán built this house in 1900. He owned the sawmill store, La Tienda de la Máquina de Rajar, which was also at the corner. Part of it is still standing and is the studio of the artist Leo Romero who married Tomas’ granddaughter.

The American Lumber Company, 1892, the largest sawmill in the Southwest at the time, spread out to the west and to the east. The workers arrived to the sawmill on the electric trolley line (1903-1928) which stopped at the sawmill gate by the store. 12th street ended here.

We will be turning right on to Bellamah Avenue. It was named for an Albuquerque developer and was named Sawmill Road before 1952.

Bellamah Avenue:

Next to the Durán property, one can spot a small adobe structure which at one time was a bakery. Adjacent to it is a rubber-wheel trolley car that Jesse Herron found in Estancia. It was last used on Albuquerque streets in the 1990s.

At 1100 Bellamah was the former Charley’s Grocery. Kinley Street used to run past the south side of the store on its way to 12th Street. (Kinley Street now only goes as far as 11^th) A brothel used to be behind the grocery store. This property is now part of The Painted Lady Bed and Brew owned by Jesse Herron.

On the north side of Bellamah is a large mural depicting Albuquerque – Una Vida Buena y Sana which was installed in 1993. Next to it is an Aztec sun and the word RESOLANA – a place to sit in the sun with your buddies and discuss la vida buena y sana or other politics today. This mural project was directed by Leo Romero who lives across the street in the Durán

The contemporary mural adjoining is an abstract design by Reyes Padilla.

As we continue down Bellamah, the industrial/commercial area of Wells Park is to the north.

Mother Trail packages and distributes alcoholic beverages. A sign on its wall says it is at 1011 Sawmill.

Musket Albuquerque DEF Terminal has the address 1615 8th St. NW. (DEF stands for Diesel Exhaust Fluid and is used to reduce toxins in diesel emissions.)

Keslow Camera, a motion picture film and digital camera rental house, has the address of 815 Bellamah.

We’ll walk along it as we turn left onto 8th street.

8th Street:

Reliance Steel, a steel fabricator, is at 1801 8th.

Continue North to the railroad tracks where the 1944 Santa Fe Railway 2926 steam engine continues to be restored. The stream engine is stored in the newer metal building on the north side of tracks. The engine is dragged outside on Wednesday and Saturday mornings if you would like to see it.

Continue one block north just past Haines to large Roadrunner mural on the right with the letters SAWMILL by NB Artistry (Noe Barnett).

Haines Street:

Return to Haines and walk east past the Walker Print Studio at 719 with the attractive blue and purple wall. Continue east crossing 7th to the second half of the Sawmill mural with DISTRICT in large letters with a Coyote

We are still in Wells Park, where part of the sawmill existed. (The Sawmill District is technically west of 12^th Street.)

From the early part of the 20th century until early 40s there was a large dairy farm here owned by Mr. Bezemek. The namesake Bezemek Avenue is one street to the north. Bezemek later sold his dairy to Creamland which is still in the area.

Looking North, one can see Interstate Highway 40, built in the 60s, which cut through these northwest neighborhoods. Close to the highway, for those who want some refreshment, Bow and Arrow Brewery is at 608 McKnight (two streets to the north).

To continue our walk, the large square in front of the DISTRICT mural is the Haines Commercial Plaza, with a variety of enterprises including Quelab (A Place to Make Things). It is a hacker/maker space with all the tools necessary to develop a product.

7th Street:

Our walk will continue south on 7th. As we cross the railroad tracks, one can see the volcanoes on the west and the Sandia Mountains on the east.

Just south of the tracks at 1727 7^th Street is the Popcorn Cannery. It is a charming little store with all kinds of popcorn and Bufett’s (Buffet’s Candy, the popcorn place, and the concession supplier on 8th Street all have the same ownership.)

For a detour for food and beverage go to Kosmos Restaurant at 1715 5th Street NW. Turn East on Aspen to 5th and then north on 5th. The former warehouse was home to art galleries, and is now in the process of another transformation.
As we continue south on 7^th Street, we will pass some residences on our way back to Bellamah. On the Southwest corner of 7th and Bellamah is the old Vivianis Grocery

Bellamah:

As we turn east along Bellamah the sidewalks are smooth and wide. The landscaping along the parkway from 8th to 6th Street was sponsored by the Wells Park Neighborhood Association and the City.

At the intersection of Bellamah and Los Tomases, check out the former street names embedded in the sidewalk. Los Tomases was Virginia Blvd and Bellamah was Taft. (One block to the south, you’ll see that Kinley used to be named McKinley. At one time there was a presidential theme to the street names.)

Between Los Tomases and 6th Street there is an alley with a turquoise fence. Turn north into the alley and you will find car murals on the concrete block wall. The cars are from the 50s and 60s which you will also find in the neighborhood.

Return to Bellamah and continue East. The vacant lot on the NW corner of Bellamah and 6th was a neighborhood grocery store. The building was demolished in 2019.

Across the street at the SW corner of Bellamah and 6^th is an intriguing fence built in the summer of 2017 by Butch Sterpka, Michael Lopez, and Ginnie Sterpka. Notice among the stones volcanic rock and petrified wood. It is the A Troche Y Moche wall and the name of this walk that I borrowed from these three geniuses.

6th Street:

Continue South on 6th street.

On the left was the home of a large nursey. Today it seems to be owned by Goodfellas. You could call and ask about flowers, but you would have much better luck to continue to Blooms & Balloons and the corner of 6th and Kinley. This is a restored Nazarene Church, Art Deco style, built in 1939.

At 6th and Summer, the now vacant city-owned Walker Property is on the other side of 6th and to the south. The city plans to expand Wells Park into the vacant land.

At 6th and Rosemont, we’ll reach Wells Park. Rosemont between 6th and 5th will be vacated to support the expansion of Wells Park.

The Albuquerque women’s roller derby team practices in the basketball courts several nights a week. The tall dome-like structure in front of the community center is a representation of a wigwam (or teepee) burner that were used to burn scrap wood at sawmills. It’s an homage to the onetime sawmill industry that was north of here.

The corner of 6th and Mountain has a very elaborate mural that was part of a project to repurpose two commercial/industrial buildings into housing. The project was completed just a little over a year ago.

Mountain Road:

We’ll turn right on Mountain Road and take it back to our starting point. Along the way:

We’ll pass the Harwood Art Center on the other side of Mountain

And an old tree carved into a barber pole at 7th and Mountain. Since the barber shop closed in the fall of 2022, the pole has been repainted – but the distinct shape is still there.