National Register Listing

Shoup Boardinghouse

a.k.a. Romero Apartments

707 1st St., SW, Albuquerque, NM

Of the many hotels and rooming houses built in the first decade of Albuquerque's railroad boom, the Shoup Boarding House, 707 1st Street S.W., is the only one still standing. In addition to its significance as an un-remodeled example of buildings of this period, it is also valuable for its rare combination of building styles and materials: a symmetrical Queen Anne brick structure juxtaposed with a narrow clapboard building featuring Greek Revival decorative elements.

The house is situated just across from the railroad yards in the old Atlantic and Pacific Addition platted by Franz Huning, Elias Stover, and William Hazeldine in 1881 (plat never filed). These three men were instrumental in bringing the railroad to Albuquerque and were among the most active real estate is the period. The two lots on which the building stands were both sold late in 1881 but there is no official record of improvements on the property until they are noted on the 1891 tax assessment rolls when they were valued at View map of Albuquerque shows a trio of buildings at this location but they only minimally resemble the present structure; since this map is usually accurate in its representation of buildings, the structure now standing was probably built between 1886 and 1891 or is a major remodeling of the buildings shown on the 1886 map. Joseph Shoup, who bought the northern lot in 1881, acquired the adjacent lot in 1891 for $900 which would indicate some improvements already on the property.

The building has always been used as a boarding house; it is consistently advertised as offering "furnished rooms." The row of doors and windows set close together on the north side of its rear wing suggests that this part of the building may have been a brothel, but there is no corroboration of this. The building's location just across from the Santa Fe Railroad shops would support it's being used as a brothel or a rooming house or both.

Joseph Shoup, its first owner, lived at 707 1st Street until 1932. All that is known about him is his proprietorship of the boarding house. His wife, Anna, and his son, Harry D. Shoup, who became superintendent of the City Water Department, both pre-deceased him. No obituary can be found for Joseph Shoup. The building was sold to T. 0. Mossman, an engineer for Santa Fe, in 1920. Mr. Mossman sold it in 1935 and it changed hands again in 1948, 1954, and 1958 when it was bought by its present owner, Daniel Romero.

Despite its several owners, little has been done to alter the exterior except for two new windows and a small addition on the south side which, however, left the original detailing intact. The interior, too, has seen little alteration and retains its original woodwork and fireplaces and, on the second story, its succession of small rooms leading off two narrow hallways.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.