Ghosts of the past: Albuquerque is full of haunting tales and spectral sites

Oct. 22—Editor's note: The fourth Sunday of each month, Journal Arts Editor Adrian Gomez tells the stories behind some of the hidden gems you can see across the state in "Gimme Five."

Generations of humans have called New Mexico home.

As the city grows into its future, the history of the city isn't forgotten.

With Halloween right around the corner, Cody Polston is extremely busy.

The author and "scary story aficionado" has heard his share of scary tales.

He's working on a new book about Albuquerque set for a release in the next year, but he decided to pull out some stories to share with readers for a special treat.

Polston, is one of the founders of the Southwest Ghost Hunter's Association, which investigates some cases, as well as puts on a ghost tour in Old Town.

"I get a lot of requests from people to look into ghost stories," he says. "A lot of them, I haven't personally investigated. The history is so crazy and a lot of stuff people haven't heard of it."

One fact most people don't know is that Albuquerque had three red-light districts — and each one of them has ghosts.

1. It all begins in Old Town

Polston says the first was located in Old Town, right across from Old Town Alleyway.

During the 1880s, it was the first red-light district in Albuquerque.

"There were brothels and wine rooms," he says. "There's a ghost, they call her Scarlet."

Polston says the first story of Scarlet surfaced in 1999.

"This guy was sure he saw a ghost, and we agreed to meet in Old Town," he says. "We went to the alley across the street from La Placita and began his story."

The man said he went to smoke in the alley while waiting for his girlfriend.

"His lighter is dead and sees a woman at the opposite end of the alley who is smoking, so he approaches here," Polston says. "Getting within 25 feet, his girlfriend shouts and when he turns around the woman is gone."

The woman had red hair, and it seemed like it hadn't been washed in a while. She was wearing a dark blue or purple dress.

"At first, I blew off the story," Polston says. "Then this waitress told me that she had seen the woman and was going to give her food. She boxed up a bunch of sopaipillas to give to the woman and when she approached, the woman disappeared."

Polston says in the 1880s, the area was home to Rumalda Griego's Wine Room — and it was rambunctious.

"If you read some of the newspapers and reports from back then, the area was always being shut down," Polston says. "More and more stories surface from back then, and they are interesting."

Polston says if you have your back to San Felipe de Neri Church and point in any direction, there are plenty of stories — many are untold.

2. Red-light district in Downtown

Polston says the next story takes place between Copper and Central avenues between Third and Fourth streets.

On Sept. 12, 1893, a woman named Alcaria Baca was one of the women working in the district and was found dead in a nightgown.

"Her skull had been bashed and her throat cut," Polston says. "They initially suspected her boyfriend and he died seven months later. We have this Jack the Ripper-like murder in Albuquerque. Nobody knows about it because it's buried in the papers."

Polston says people have seen a woman wearing pink in the area today.

"They see her near Dumpsters and in the dark corners," Polston says. "When women are walking in the area, they can hear a woman's voice saying 'don't trust him' and things like that. I've had five different accounts of people seeing a woman in the alley, and she moves off into the shadows and disappears."

3. Back to Old Town

Polston says in 1915, prostitution was illegal and most of the women left town.

Those who stayed went back to Old Town, located in the area of Charlevoix Street and Mountain Road.

Reading through the Albuquerque Journal, Polston says he came across a woman named Minnie, who would constantly get into incidents.

"Back then, if you danced with a woman, you were obligated to buy her a drink," Polston says. "A man didn't buy Minnie one, and she knifed him."

Polston says when the ghost tour was first started, people would see this short woman standing in the road crying.

"It's like the last story that when she is approached, she moves away or completely disappears," he says. "I have a friend in Old Town that says every place he opens in Old Town is haunted. He's seen this Hispanic woman walk into his store, and then he tried to help her and she just disappeared. He described her as short, with her hair put up in a bun."

4. Sawmill area time

Polston recently did a show with 96.3 KKOB with the Painted Lady Bed & Brew owner Jesse Herron. The segment airs from 3-6 p.m. Oct. 31.

The story of the Painted Lady is one that is shrouded in mystery.

Believed to have been originally constructed in 1881, the property has quite the colorful past. Many knife fights and shootings are just some of the echoes of its sordid past.

Herron says New Mexico's Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett are purported to have once been patrons of the property.

Polston says the building first started appearing on maps in 1900. It was called the Swastika Saloon.

It was operated by Cesario "Sario" Gonzales. According to a relative, Sario immigrated to the New Mexico Territory from Spain at the age of 14 (fleeing accusations of witchcraft). Sario opened the Swastika Saloon, a "place of bad repute," as early as 1904 (records show that he gained title to the property in 1899).

The original meaning of the swastika symbol is one of life and prosperity. Its origin goes back thousands of years.

The Swastika Saloon billed itself as a dance hall with a "wine room in connection." Wine room was code for a brothel.

With the American Lumber Company sawmill just across the street, and an early 20th century ratio of five men to every woman, the brothel thrived.

"The one female ghost that is there, Jesse says it felt like someone crawled over him," Polston says. "We did get a couple of EVP (electronic voice phenomena) and they are ghost voices."

5. La Placita in Old Town

Polston was doing research on La Placita Dining Rooms, which closed during the pandemic.

He found an Albuquerque Tribune article from 1977 about the area being haunted.

"The place is haunted by a teenage girl," he says. "That's what the article also confirmed."

But there's another story.

Polston says Victoriana Armijo was the daughter of Don Ambrosio Armijo and there are two stories surrounding her.

One is that she died of the plague. The other is that she died at birth.

"I can find the grave for everyone in the family, but not her," Polston says. "This leads me to believe that she died of the plague and had to be cremated."

Polston says it lines up with people on the ghost tour seeing a little girl.

"Next to the patio market, when it's locked up at night, people hear this little girl's voice singing 'Señora Santa Ana,' " he says. "They hear tapping noises on the gate. People who are smoking in the area get pebbles thrown at them."

Polston says for the longest time, the ghost tour kept how the ghost looked under wraps.

"She's dressed in a communion dress and has sunwheels on it."