A History of Quigley Park Neighborhood
Taken from a letter by
Ralph E. Schulz, former Quigley Park resident

The village of Bel-Aire was annexed by the City of Albuquerque in 1952 after much disputes.  Fred Mossman had purchased the old airport (which comprises half of our neighborhood) in 1951, he was the one responsible for the annexation.  He laid out all the streets and designated those areas as either commercial, residential, religious, and parks.  The only building standing in that area at the time was Anita’s Bar on the NE corner of San Mateo and Menaul, a small building on what later became La Veta in the 2800 block.  He constructed the first house at 2806 Madeira in July 1953, proving to the financiers that they would make money.  They began selling houses in July 1953, with the first purchasers moving in the first two weeks of November 1953, Joe and Mary Lou McDonald at 2801, Charlie and Barbara Apodaca at 2822, Swede and Betty Ostrum at 2805, and Ralph and Grace Schulz at 2818.  So you see, we have been here for some time. 

Trials and tribulations we had plenty, washed out roads, flooding, squabbles galore.  After about two years, things settled down and we began to come together like good neighbors.  Will say one thing here that probably had more to do with getting along together.  The Catholic Church located in the old Sanitarium Building at Carlisle and Menaul had purchased the land in the 2700 block of Madeira, with Father Baca being the leading figure at the time.  He welcomed every new owner or resident as they moved in.