This was Albuquerque's first suburb. WWII halted construction temporarily, but after the war Albuquerque's population boomed, and construction began in earnest. In the late 1940s, R.B. Waggoman built the Nob Hill Business Center, a prototype of one of the first modern shopping centers west of the Mississippi. The Center and the district blossomed into the most fashionable area of town. Nob Hill remained fashionable until the late fifties when more modern shopping centers attracted shoppers.
Nob Hill is now one of the most popular shopping and dining areas in Albuquerque.
Over 150 independently-owned businesses now flourish in the district, including fine restaurants, cafes, and vintage '40s and '50s motels and diners in addition to shops and boutiques of all kinds. Many buildings date back to the 1930s and 1940s, and numerous original neon-tube signs still glow at night along Route 66, creating the colorful aura of another era. The east end of Nob Hill is known as The Antique District. Begun in 1987, the area has grown steadily and is considered a buyer's paradise with over 200 antique dealers concentrated within a mile long stretch. Six multi-dealers in malls and eight single owners offer every conceivable type of antique from American Indian to western to folk art to Victorian.