Socorro

The city of Socorro – the Spanish word for succor or assistance – is 75 miles south of Albuquerque, in the fertile Rio Grande valley. When Spanish colonists traveling north through the area under the leadership of Don Juan de Oñate arrived at the Pueblo village called Teypana, they were welcomed by the Indians and given a large gift of corn. The grateful immigrants bestowed the name of Socorro on the place. The town is the county seat of Socorro County, the third largest in New Mexico. It not only serves a wide ranging agricultural and ranching community, it is also the home of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, widely-known as New Mexico Tech.  The Socorro Heritage and Visitor Center's mission is to preserve, display and maintain the heritage of Socorro.  The Visitor Center is housed in the City Water Commission building.  It was built between 1913 and 1930 and was later used for the Police Department.  It was built of coursed, ashlar stones.  The host at the Visitor was very friendly and helpful.

As we drove into Socorro, we passed the San Miguel Church that was completed in 1821 and the community of Socorro was built around it.  The original dwellings and structures have thick adobe walls, flat roofs and mud floors with only a few small windows and short doors.  These small openings provided security from Indian attacks. 

It was a very beautiful, sunny day so we embarked on the walking tour of Socorro.  The Plaza is the focal point of town so the tour began at the Plaza.

The first picture is the Juan Jose Baca House built around 1870.  The two-story end of the dwelling was used for a general merchandise store.  Mr. Baca was also a rancher and a politician.  The Lupe Torres House (second picture) was originally two dwellings built around 1898 and later joined together.  The third picture is the A. B. Baca house that was built in 1910.  It was the first house to show the use of the Emborregado style of plastering in Socorro.  The Emborregado style of plastering is a special technique that smooths the squared corners and gives the panels a "woolly"looking texture.  Last picture is the Church of Epiphany.  It was built between 1886 and 1898 and is an adobe building in a simplified Gothic Revival style.

Pictured first in this group is the Jesus Maria Torres House which is a square adobe house with a hipped roof of corrugated metal that was built after 1913.  The turned columns on the front porch are the highlight for this house.  The bell was placed in front of the current fire station which was located across the street from the Visitor Center.  The third picture is the Fortune Property and is the oldest structure in existence on the southern side of the Plaza.  Others were destroyed by fire. Patrick and Theresa Fortune were originally from Ireland and were stationed in New Mexico and decided to stay.  The last picture of this group is the Abeytia Block.  This building was built in 1880 and housed the Hilton Drugstore and the Masonic Lodge.  The drugstore was founded by a relative of Conrad Hilton.  It is know for being the oldest operating drugstore in the state.  It was remodeled in the 1930's.  The drugstore is now the Socorro County Chamber of Commerce.

The Capitol Bar is the only drinking establishment still in existence from the mining boom era.  Giovanni Biavaschi, a native of Italy, built the business and sold wine from his own vineyard.  The second picture on the Torres Building was the mercantile block in 1886.  It was once several different business in separate one and two story buildings that sold a variety of items from hardware to groceries.  The buildings have been joined together and stuccoed over.  In the last picture is the Knights of Pythias Hall - a building built in the 1880's.  A metal cornice separates the first and second floors and there are pressed metal hood moldings on the second story windows.  A metal bracketed cornice crowns the front.  The building appears unaltered and the lettering the walls are K of P Hall and Owl Cigar are still visible.

 An interesting display at the end of our walk!!  This piece of steel was a fragment from an explosion in 1945 of the first nuclear device at the Trinity Site which is 35 miles SE of Socorro.  It was fortunate that the fragment landed with no damage or injuries.  The walking tour was a great way to see the historical buildings in this area.  The printed guide was helpful with a lot of information.