Lewis, Charles W. Building

A man with varied business interests, Charles W. Lewis rose from obscure beginnings to become one of Albuquerque's leading citizens of the 1880s and '90s. Although other documentation is lacking, Lewis stated in later years that he was born in 1844 at the plaza of Peralta, a small farming community 20 miles south of Albuquerque. His mother, Marcelina Salas, was a native New Mexican but nothing is known of Lewis' father except that he came from Kentucky. During the 1860s Lewis studied briefly at St. Louis University and it is probable that during this time in Missouri he met and married his first wife, Jessie A. Evans. By 1863 Charles Lewis and his older brother William were partners in a Peralta general merchandising firm known as "Lewis y Hermano." Within a few years Charles, or Carlos, was also trading in wool, one of New Mexico's most important commodities, shipping large numbers of fleeces by wagon train to Kit Carson, Colorado, an important loading point on the Kansas and Pacific Railroad in the 1870s.

During that decade it became increasingly evident that the arrival of the railroad in New Mexico would bring new importance to Albuquerque because of its central location. To capitalize on the business opportunities in the growing community to the north Lewis, established himself there, as a comerciante and vina tero in 1873. Six years later he purchased a residence from baker Joseph Pohmer close to the old Albuquerque plaza for Jessie and their four sons, and began to accumulate property in the surrounding area. The late '70s was a time of hectic real estate speculation in Albuquerque, as both newcomers and long time residents sought to anticipate the sites of railroad facilities and the direction of new urban expansion. When railroad officials decided to bypass the old plaza a whole new community, known as "New Town" sprang up around the shops and depot 1 1/2 miles to the east. Lewis was among those whose purchases were most advantageously placed.

In 1882 he subdivided a small tract of former farm land on the south edge of New Town west of the railroad tracks which was designated "C.W. Lewis Addition No. 3." There on a centrally located lot facing South Second Street he erected a four room brick house, the subject of this nomination. At the same time, Lewis' real estate dealings entered a new phase in which he attempted to acquire control of 18th century land grants made by Spanish governors west of Albuquerque on the Rio Puerco. After purchasing the fractional interests from hundreds of heirs of the original grantees he planned to promote the re-consolidated properties by means of grandiose development schemes with impressive corporate titles such as the Western Homestead and Irrigation Co. Lewis was also active in the rough and tumble local politics of the day, serving terms as both Treasurer and Assessor of Bernalillo County.

In the summer of 1901 Lewis died suddenly as the result of accidental injuries sustained while walking home on a dark night. After several earlier changes of ownership the house on South Second Street was purchased in 1966 by Philip Hubbell, a member of one of New Mexico's leading ranching and political families. It is still part of his estate.

Because of his mixed Hispanic and Anglo parentage and his dreams of unlimited economic growth for Albuquerque, Charles W. Lewis exemplifies the new era that came to New Mexico with the railroad. Today this building remains to recall the man and his era.