Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, built possibly before 1870 and certainly before 1894, is locally significant because it still conveys its nearly 100-year-old function as a religious and community center for this "highland" section of Albuquerque's north valley. It's 1940 remodeling, a rare Hispanic contribution to the wave of predominantly Anglo "puebloization" remodeling which swept New Mexico in the 1930s and '40s, did not obscure the building's traditional massing, thick walls, and few window openings. The single bell tower, simple choir loft, and small transepts and sacristry, all added in 1940, resemble these elements of traditional Hispanic chapels throughout northern New Mexico. This remodeling was done by the people of the community using plans probably drawn by the parish priest, thus following the traditional way of building a plaza church. Thus in every respect, the remodeling enhanced its significance as the historic and religious Center of El Rancho Plaza.

The original chapel may have been built as early as the late 1860s by Maria Gregoria Candelaria de Garcia. She and her husband, Juan Antonio Garcia, were prominent residents of El Rancho Plaza (see National Register nomination for the Juan Antonio Garcia House). In Gregoria's will, she states that "my body shall be buried in the church of Our Lady of Carmel in the same place where my deceased husband Juan Antonio Garcia is buried." Garcia died in 1870, suggesting that the chapel was standing in that year, although his body may have been moved there later. Gregoria died in 1894 and not many years later the private chapel she had built was used by the citizens of both Los Ranchos and Alameda after their chapels were destroyed by the flood of 1903. It is still frequently called the Los Ranchos Chapel. After the new Alameda church was built in 1911 the little chapel was used infrequently until 1940 when Father Pelzer from Alameda had the building rehabilitated and remodeled to face Edith Boulevard which had been rerouted to the east. After Father Pelzer left the Alameda area the church again fell into disuse until 1973 when it was renovated but not altered by Greek Catholics united with Rome. Recently it has been returned to use as a Roman Catholic church.