Socorro's Territorial Saloons — Part 1

During the territorial boom decades of the 1880s and 1890s, Socorro was home to dozens of saloons — "sampling rooms," "billiard halls," and "resorts" — all of which were synonymous with today's bars and taverns. Only one sole survivor, the Capitol Bar, can trace its lineage directly back to those territorial days and it, along with many of its numerous and long-gone neighbors, as well as a few of their colorful proprietors, are the focus of this two-part story. Due to the lack of period newspaper coverage, we may never know the name and exact location of Socorro's first territorial "saloon" — if, indeed, it could be called that. But it certainly predated 1880, since that was the year when two major events occurred in Socorro's history: the arrival not only of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, but the establishment of the Socorro Sun, our first newspaper. No less than eight wholesale and retail liquor establishments advertised in the 1880 Sun. One clue is offered by Mrs. Sadie Abernathy, as quoted in Father Stanley Crocchiola's book, "Socorro, The Oasis." Abernathy related: "When I came to Socorro in 1876, the little town was a paradise. Lots of fruit trees, grape vines, (and) gardens… (There were) no groceries or dry good stores except for one run by J.J. Baca Sr. And, all he had was a few pounds of green (not roasted) coffee, a little brown sugar, some calicos of the cheapest kind — and he sold whiskey and wine by the drink at the counter ..." Pete Kinsinger, credited with being the first to discover ore in the Magdalena area during the Civil War, was an early proprietor of the well-known Park House (soon to become the famous Park Hotel), where he regularly hosted the mining fraternity. During inclement weather, they retired to "Armstrong's nearby saloon." These pioneer "saloons" were, by necessity, sparsely stocked, even by the standards of the early 1880s. Their bill of fare was limited to non-perishables, such as wine and whiskey. Beer, if it could be called that, was certainly available in the territory as far back as the 1860s, particularly in areas served by wagon trains coming in over the Santa Fe Trail. William Carl, proprietor of the "Western Brewery" advertised in the May 5, 1869, Santa Fe New Mexican: "The undersigned will keep constantly on hand at their Brewery, on the Fort Union road, a supply of beer in bottles or kegs as may be required." Since the pasteurization of beer wasn't applied to any degree until about 1876, William Carl's product was probably pretty vile stuff...more