Edward Buxton Cristy (1860–1934) was among the first architects working in and from Albuquerque, New Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a growing city, he designed residential, commercial, and institutional structures. His work with William Tight at the University of New Mexico involved study of pueblos and incorporation of their forms into contemporary projects. This defined Pueblo Revival architecture.

Biography Cristy was born in New York City and raised in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Columbia University, receiving a "Bachelor of Philosophy (Course of Architecture)" in 1891. His degree is sometimes mis-described as a "Ph.D.", or doctorate, but this contradicts original sources. (Bachelor of Philosophy is often abbreviated "Ph.B.")

Due to ill health, he moved to Albuquerque in 1892, where he practiced as "E. B. Cristy." Initially, he supplemented his income by teaching at a private boarding school, by teaching drawing, drafting, and higher mathematics at the University, and by serving as the city's plumbing inspector. He married Estelle Gillespy in Denver on July 20, 1896.

With the then-recent establishment of the Santa Fe Railway Shops, Albuquerque was growing rapidly from village to city. Cristy established himself as an architect and became architect for the Angus A. Grant estate, a major holder of real estate in Albuquerque's new center.

As a prominent community member, he volunteered on the city's park commission for several years, was a member of the Masons, the Order of Odd Fellows, and an active elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was one the "Ten Dons," a group of ten prominent city men who met monthly for dinner and the presentations on current topics.

"Most of Cristy's designs are in the standard styles of the period" but he participated in the conception of Pueblo Revival. From his arrival in Albuquerque until his death in 1934, Cristy practiced for nearly forty years. Including six contributing properties, thirteen of his known commissions are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Much of his work remains unattributed.

Pueblo Revival at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Cristy's significant work at UNM began in 1900 when he designed the University's Hadley Science Hall, a traditional two and a half story brick Richardson Romanesque structure, and, after the Main Building (now Hodgin Hall), the second major building on campus. The following year, UNM's third president, William G. Tight, took office envisioning a campus reflecting indigenous Southwestern architecture. Cristy was enlisted in implementing Tight’s vision:

The novel style was both acclaimed and controversial; detractors described it as "reverting to the primitive." This, and other controversies, led to Tight’s resignation in 1909, but he had successfully commissioned Cristy for six structures in the Pueblo style. (Estufa and Cristy's remodel of Hodgin Hall remain.) In 1910, punctuating Tight’s departure, Cristy’s traditionally styled Hadley Science Hall burned to the ground. Subsequent campus development did not consistently adhere to Pueblo Revival,although Cristy oversaw the 1920 construction of the Pueblo designed Sara Raynolds Hall.

Beginning in 1934, the year of Cristy's death, Tight's and Cristy's Pueblo Revival would be amplified on campus, in Santa Fe, and throughout the Southwest, when John Gaw Meem was engaged as UNM's official architect.

List of works This list is certainly incomplete, especially for residential commissions; as of 1907, these included "most of the finer residences in the city." It is occasionally unclear if Cristy was the designer or the local supervising (on-site) architect for another firm. Addresses are in Albuquerque unless noted otherwise.

University of New Mexico Commissions Name Address Built Other Information Image Gymnasium UNM Campus 1899 Frame bldg, 25 X 50 feet. Demolished. No image. Hadley Science Hall UNM Campus 1900 Burned down, 1910. Heating Plant UNM Campus 1905 Demolished. No image. Hokana Hall UNM Campus 1906 Women's dormitory, demolished. Kwataka Hall UNM Campus 1906 Men's dormitory, demolished. Estufa SE corner University Blvd & Martin Luther King Blvd 1907 Student-designed, Cristy approved. National Register of Historic Places. Hodgin Hall 1900 Redondo Drive, UNM Campus 1908 Remodelled by Cristy over Jesse Wheelock's 1892 design. National Register of Historic Places. Rodey Hall UNM Campus 1908 Demolished 1970. Sara Raynolds Hall 2000 Redondo Drive, UNM Campus 1920 Cristy supervising architect under Arno K. Leupold. National Register of Historic Places. Other Education Commissions Name Address Built Other Information Image Second Ward School 700 South Edith Blvd 1893 Enlarged in 1902, demolished 1927 and replaced by Eugene Field Elementary. Central High School Corner of Third St, and Lead Avenue. 1900 Demolished. Sage Memorial Administration Building Allison-James School, Santa Fe, NM. 1924 No image. Belen School Board Belen, NM Before 1912 No image. Saint Vincent's Academy NW corner, Sixth & Lomas Avenues Before 1912 Remodel or addition to 1884 structure. Demolished. Pierson Hall Menaul School Campus 1903 Remodel. Hart Gymnasium Menaul School Campus 1916 Teacher's Hall Menaul School Campus 1920 Extant and in use as of 2026. Bennett Hall Menaul School Campus 1924 NM School of Mines Socorro, NM 1901 No image. Church Commissions

Name Address Built Other Information ImageImmaculate Conception Church Sixth & Copper Avenues Before 1907. Remodel of interior. First Presbyterian Church 424 Silver Avenue 1905-06 Fully designed by Cristy. Demolished. First Congregational Church Coal & Central Avenues 1893 Remodel after fire. Demolished 1960. Episcopal Church 324 Silver Avenue Before 1912. Cristy did an early remodel preceding an historically-respectful enlargement and remodel by John Gaw Meem in 1930 and 1950. (Pre-Meem structure is in stone.) National Register of Historic Places. Methodist Episcopalian Church Fourth and Coal Avenues Before 1904? The 1904 reconstruction is credited to Charles Frederick Whittlesey. National Register of Historic Places. Other Institutional Commissions Name Address Built Other Information Image Albuquerque City Hall Second & Tijeras Avenues 1913 Shown "as planned" on 1913 Sanborn Insurance Map. Demolished. Odd Fellows Hall Second Ave. between Silver and Lead Avenues 1909 Demolished about 1972. Y.M.C.A. Building NE corner, First & Central Avenues 1915 Supervising and revising. Demolished 1974. Albuquerque Morning Journal 312 West Gold Avenue 1905 Addition to building. Image from 1883. N. T. Armijo Building ("Armijo Block") NW corner, Third & Central Avenues 1892 Probably a remodel over the work of Jesse Wheelock. Cristy had an office here. Demolished 1969. Barnett Block SW corner, Second & Central Avenues Before 1907 Demolished. Kistler-Collister (in the Giomi Building) Second & Central Avenues After 1909 Storefront remodel. First storefront in Albuquerque to have curved glass walls on either side of entrance. Southwest Presbyterian Sanatorium (now Presbyterian Hospital) 1100 East Central Avenue Before 1912 Demolished in 1967 and replaced by Presbyterian Hospital. Hazeltine Infirmary Southwest Presbyterian Sanatorium 1926 Demolished 1973. (Pictured.) Nurses Home Southwest Presbyterian Sanatorium 1929 Maytag Laboratory 168 Oak Street (Presbyterian Hospital Campus) 1930 Cristy supervising under Sutton & Routt. Extant and in use as of 2026, but compromised. Bank of Magdalena First and Main Streets, Magdalena, New Mexico 1908-12 National Register of Historic Places. Belen Bank 114 Becker Avenue, Belen, New Mexico May 1909 - 1912 No image. Holbrook Bank 19 or 21 Central Ave., Holbrook, Arizona Before 1912 See Sanborn Insurance Map, 1910, 1916. No image. First National Bank Second and Gold Before 1912. Not the existing structure at Central and Second from 1923. Remodel. No image.

Residential Commissions Name Address Built Other Information Image W. J. Marsh House 301 South Edith c.1895 Contributing property in Huning Highlands. David Ross Boyd House 123 South High St. c.1895 Contributing property in Huning Highlands. Dr. James Wroth House 508 West Copper 1895 Demolished. No image. Edward Buxton Cristy House. 201 South Walter 1896-7 Cristy's self-designed home. Contributing property in Huning Highlands. House at 216 South Broadway 216 South Broadway 1901 Built for Fred W. Fisher. Contributing property in Huning Highlands. House at 608 South Arno 608 South Arno 1901 Extant and in use as of 2026, but compromised. Photograph from 1975. Lulu Hopping House 737 South Edith 1901 National Register of Historic Places. William R. Whitney House 302 South Walter 1907 Contributing Property in Huning Highlands. Charles A. Bottger House 110 San Felipe NW 1912 National Register of Historic Places. Robert E. Putney House 1101/1105 West Central Ave. c. 1913 Demolished. "Court" Quickel House 810 Park Avenue SW 1902-08 Demolished 1965. "Court" likely refers to Cortez, a.k.a Cort: Cortez Swartz Quickel, 1887-1928. House at 215 South Fourteenth Given as "214" in Pratt, but see Sanborn Maps and Estelle Cristy's death certificate. 1919 The later Cristy home. Frame house built for $3,000. (Bldg permit #1726) Demolished.

References