Before there was Route 66, there was Nob Hill…
The year 2026 marks the 100-year anniversary of Route 66, the legendary American highway. Known to locals as Central Avenue, this cultural icon is disappearing into the landscape, asphalt melting into the deserts and plains, but very much alive in the collective memory as an artifact of the American Dream.
However, this is not a story about the Mother Road. It is the story of another centenarian, or several centenarians, who grew up alongside the famous “Main Street of America.” In 1926, east of the small town of Albuquerque, the stars aligned perfectly (albeit with active cajoling) and, against all odds, the neighborhoods of Nob Hill – University Heights, Monte Vista, College View, Granada Heights, Mesa Grande, Mankato Addition, and Broadmoor – began to grow out of the sand dunes.
About this time, other neighborhoods began to rise alongside the Nob Hill district—Parkland Hills, Monterey Hills, Sunset Heights, Knob Heights, Ridgecrest, McDuffie Addition, and Victory Hills. Seems oddly curious, that a small town of just over 15K, whose growth rate had slowed considerably over the previous decade, suddenly, in 1926, needed 17 new neighborhoods on the East Mesa…
This is the behind-the-scenes look at how Nob Hill came to be, the who’s who and what’s what; the movers and shakers of early Albuquerque, the businesses that started here, the innovations that began here, and how a few handshakes shaped the surrounding neighborhoods we love today. This is the story of fools, follies, and flights of fancy. It is the story of conniving, cunningness, and corruption. Most of all, it is the story of where creativity, culture, and technology came together, generating something that had never been before. Join us twice a week for a new story, a forgotten fact, an unsolved mystery, or the answer to something you have always wondered…
©️ 2026 Michelle Allison