About Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission (Historic Church) · Albuquerque, New Mexico
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission (Historic Church) is a small Catholic chapel at 7813 Edith Boulevard NE in Albuquerque's historic North Valley, administered as a mission of the nearby parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The building itself dates to the early 1870s and is one of the oldest standing Catholic structures in the valley, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984 and on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties since 1975. The chapel is the spiritual and historical heart of the old El Rancho de los Garcia (Los Ranchos) plaza community and still functions as a place of worship with a weekly Tuesday evening Mass.
- Established
- circa 1870
- Patron
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Tucked into Albuquerque's historic North Valley, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a tiny, almost 155-year-old chapel that still functions as a quiet weekly Mass site and as the spiritual anchor of the old Los Ranchos plaza community. Visiting the chapel on a Tuesday evening is a chance to pray in a National Register-listed adobe building on land that has been consecrated ground since the 1860s, while remaining connected to the wider parish life — including faith formation, hospitality, and outreach — offered through its sponsoring parish, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mass times at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission (Historic Church)
Weekly Mass schedule
History of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Chapel
The chapel was probably constructed by 1870 as the private chapel of Maria Gregoria Candelaria de Garcia and her husband Juan Antonio Garcia, prominent settlers of the high-ground Los Ranchos Plaza two miles east of the Rio Grande. After their chapels were destroyed in the 1903 flood it served the faithful of Los Ranchos and Alameda; after Father Pelzer's 1940 remodel it fell out of use, was briefly used by Greek Catholics in 1973, and is now restored to Roman Catholic worship as a mission of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Original chapel built by Maria Gregoria Candelaria de Garcia, before 1870
- Served Los Ranchos and Alameda after the 1903 flood
- Remodeled in 1940 by Father Pelzer of Alameda to face new Edith Boulevard
- Used briefly by Greek Catholics in 1973
- Returned to Roman Catholic use and attached to Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish
Architecture & Setting
The chapel is a vernacular Pueblo Revival building — a one-room adobe structure remodeled in 1940 with a curved Mission-style parapet, shingled bell tower with an ornamental iron cross, simple choir loft, transepts and a sacristry. The thick terron walls are deeply set with 6/6 wood-sash windows, and a single-ridged corrugated metal roof now tops the 50-foot-long nave. The entire building is stuccoed and sits on less than an acre behind a massive arched gateway on Edith Boulevard.
- Vernacular Pueblo Revival style
- 1940 facade with Mission-style parapet and bell tower
- Thick adobe (terron) walls with deeply set 6/6 wood-sash windows
- Less than one-acre site at the historic Los Ranchos plaza
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel — July 16
The chapel's patronal feast, the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, is observed as part of the life of the sponsoring parish. Because the chapel takes its name from the Blessed Virgin under this title, the feast is the natural focal point of the year for the mission and is marked with special Mass and devotion at the discretion of the pastor.
- Patron: Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Feast day: July 16
- Traditional devotion: the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Historic Register Listings
The chapel is recognized by both the State of New Mexico and the federal government as a significant historic religious structure. These listings reflect its roughly 150 years of continuous (if interrupted) use and its role as the religious and community center of El Rancho Plaza.
- New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties — designated October 3, 1975 (Site 414)
- U.S. National Register of Historic Places — listed February 9, 1984 (NRHP #84002884)
- Part of the Albuquerque North Valley Multiple Resource Area
Sponsoring Parish: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is administered as a mission chapel of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, located at 9502 Fourth Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114 (phone 505-898-5253, http://www.n-bvm.org). The parish runs the weekday and Sunday Mass schedule, faith-formation programs, ministries (RCIA, music, hospitality, outreach, hospital and prison ministry, and cemetery care) and serves the Mt. Carmel and San Carlos cemeteries in the North Valley. All pastoral questions for the chapel are best directed through the parish office.
- Parent parish: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Parish address: 9502 Fourth Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114
- Parish phone: 505-898-5253
- Parish website: http://www.n-bvm.org
- Archdiocese: Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Mt. Carmel Cemetery
Adjacent to the historic chapel is the Mount Carmel Cemetery, one of two historic Catholic burial grounds maintained by Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish (the other being San Carlos Cemetery nearby in the Alameda area). Volunteer caretakers are always needed to help with grounds-keeping at both cemeteries.
- Adjacent Mount Carmel Cemetery maintained by the parish
- Sister cemetery: San Carlos Cemetery (Alameda)
- Volunteer cleanup program coordinated through the parish office (505-898-5253, ext. 6)
Visiting the Chapel
The mission chapel remains a working, modest church — visitors are warmly welcomed at the weekly Tuesday Mass or by appointment. Because the chapel sits in a residential historic-plaza setting, visitors are asked to be respectful of the neighbors and the active cemetery grounds. Practical questions about parking, accessibility, weddings, baptisms and quinceañeras should be directed to the parish office at 9502 Fourth Street NW.
- Address: 7813 Edith Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113
- Entrance: arched gateway on Edith Boulevard
- Contact for sacraments and events: parish office, 505-898-5253
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Pelzer1940
Priest from Alameda parish who in 1940 rehabilitated and remodeled the chapel to face the rerouted Edith Boulevard.
- Unnamed Greek Catholic priests1973
Used and renovated (without structural alteration) the chapel in 1973.