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1610
Begun in 1610 as the capitol of Nuevo México
Pedro de Peralta, the newly appointed governor, began construction on the Palace of the Governors in 1610, though some recent research suggests it began in 1618. It was established as the capitol of Nuevo México and served as the seat of government until 1901.
Changing hands
The Palace changed hands as the territory did
The Palace saw the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Spanish return from 1693 to 1694, Mexican independence in 1821, American territorial status in 1848 and US statehood in 1912. When New Mexico was annexed as a US territory, the Palace became its first territorial capitol.
Ben-Hur
A governor wrote the end of Ben-Hur here in 1879
Lew Wallace wrote the final parts of Ben-Hur in this building while territorial governor in the late 1870s. He remembered writing the climactic scenes on a stormy night in the spring of 1879, after a tense meeting with Billy the Kid, working by a shaded lamp in the shuttered study.
1909
Restored from 1909 and a history museum for a century
In 1909 the anthropologist Edgar Lee Hewett invited the young archeologist Jesse L. Nusbaum to oversee the restoration of the Palace, which had fallen into disrepair. Until 2009 it housed the state history museum, and the New Mexico History Museum opened next to it that year. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
“...the Palace was begun with an adaptation to climate and atmosphere and had been fitted into the color of earth and sky.”
Jesse L. Nusbaum, in his journal
Day 1, morning
Next is Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Palace of the Governors, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.