# Timeline of Albuquerque, New Mexico

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