OPINION

Mail letters to PO Box 4910, Santa Fe, NM 87502; or email them to editor@sfreporter. com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

COVER, MARCH 9:

“CASTLES, RUINS AND MYSTERIES”

EXTRA CREDIT

The story about the second Governor’s Mansion revealed a bit of Santa Fe architectural history I knew nothing about. I started to wonder where precisely that gracious Georgian confection once stood.

Reports of flood damage suggested a location adjacent to the Santa Fe River. The tree shadows in a couple of photographs suggested the mansion faced south.

Sure enough, a 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map from the Library of Congress made note of this structure: due north of the Capitol (now the Bataan Memorial Building), roughly half-way between the Capitol and the river. A north-south line bisecting the Capitol would just about intersect the Governor’s Mansion through it’s front door…The city lost a distinctive landmark when it was demolished. Santa Fe apparently also lost what appears to be a shady park. Only two of the many trees survived on the grounds north of the Capitol, according to a 1954 picture in the current issue of El Palacio. (One of those trees is most likely the one to the left in the Reporter’s cover photograph.)

I can find no record of a major flood that could have damaged the mansion in the 1940s or early 1950s. Perhaps water damage of a different kind than an estuary overflowing its banks brought about the mansion’s demise.

The 20th century cliche, oft repeated, also held true regarding the second New Mexico Governor’s Mansion: The demolition site eventually became a place to park cars. JOHN WAGNER SANTA FE

FOOD, MARCH 16:

“GUADALUPE MAGIC”

AGREE

An entertaining and informative review. GILDA SIMON VIA FACEBOOK

SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake: editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.

SANTA FE EAVESDROPPER

First woman: “On St. Paddy’s Day, we’re all Irish. We’re the O’Moores.” Second woman: “We’re the O’MyGods.”

—Overheard at Second Street Brewery on St. Patrick’s Day

“It’s impossible to figure out when this train comes.”

—Tourists overheard at Altar Spirits looking up Railrunner schedule