#roadtrip #backroads #newmexico Road trip south of Albuquerque discovering small town culture and uniqueness along with historical buildings, churches and More...
Remember, the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo) Valley was settled several centuries ago. Many small towns and villages still exist. The only way to travel was by horse or cart (wagon) or walk. So most villages had a church and a graveyard. The static display in Belen of the railroad semaphores and the "doodlebug" rail diesel car is very unique.
Nice video. I've lived Salem, OR for 50+ years. I grew up in Belen on Dalies Ave. between 1st & 2nd. I've enjoyed your other mid Rio-Grande Valley videos. Viva Neuvo Mejico!
Nice long ride out to the country. The old buildings with their beautiful architecture are witnesses to Belen's culture and past. Enjoyed the country vibes with the mooly cows 🐄 and then that lone donkey, oh so cute. Sometimes there's a surprise ending, so keep watching. Enjoyed being out in the country today. Thank you BG.
Haven't lived in Belen since 1983, but here goes: 1:17 The F & E building was built around 1900 (maybe earlier). In 1960, they mounted a HUGE garish metal façade, facing Main Street, on the building. I guess they wised up and finally took it down. 1:57 That building was City Hall, Water Department and the police department. They also used to park a fire truck in front until they resolved the two fire stations, overpass over the railyard, situation around 1960. See the water tower? Around 1950, they mounted a HUGE air raid siren on the second level. The purpose was to alert firefighters to a fire (go to the fire station and get the address from the police) and was also blown nightly at 10 PM to alert teenagers that it was curfew. It was so loud that it would frighten the daylights out of you. 2:10 These buildings, facing City Hall, were lawyer offices, as City Hall also had a courtroom. 2:58 This building is now "Health Department", but back in the day was divided among four doctors, one of whom, had a terrible reputation. 4:26 A memorial to a National Guard unit, activated just before World War 2, and had the misfortune of being in The Philippines when the war started. Members of the unit were either killed or captured after the Japanese invaded. 4:49 The Tabet family owns a significant portion of Belen. 6:22 I don't know the original purpose of the building, but for the longest time was a coin op laundry. 7:07 The "City Yard", where they used to store city vehicles, as well as obsolete city vehicles. 9:07 From left to right. A) Belen Hotel. Stopped being a hotel some time in the 1960's. B) Belen Hotel annex, had a bar on the ground floor with a really bad reputation until the city revoked it's business license and shut it down. C) Eva Garcia grocery (in blue and white). Remained competitive, even when other grocery stores opened. D) Small building to it's right is where Eva lived. 9:30 Belen thrived from the 1920's to 1970 because of the Santa Fe Passenger rail. When AMTRAK was created in 1971, Belen was dealt a serious blow and nearly half of the town residents left because Belen lost the passenger rail service. 9:41 If you look far in the background, on the right, you will see a cinder block building (used to be a car repair garage). Eight buildings adjacent to the garage (east, west, north and south) were burned down by an arsonist run amok. The fires suddenly stopped and it's a mystery what happened to the arsonist as he was never captured. 9:52 It looks a lot better than it used to 40 years ago, but the hotel survived because it had cheap long term rentals.
I'm shocked our many homeless and our dirty cops didn't swarm you. I lived in the little hotel you found for a while back in the mid 80s. It's a private residence now. You should have visited the Harvey house, the haunted thieves market next door, st. Mary's and the rail runner station. The place with the rotting vigas was the old city hall police department and jail. On the side is stairs made for tiny people but will take you up to the second floor with decent views.
H Y'all !!!! Thanks for coming along, really enjoyed your company! Please do me a HUUGE favor and hit that Like and Subscribe button, I'd really appreciate it!! Take care of yourselves!! :)
@eclecticvideosvlogsandmore because it's a hwy 304 staple in the community been there for 40 years. Nice people. Old mom and pop family store. Not many like it around anymore.
