Guadalupe Macías de García was born in Álamos and lived her early years on Guadalupe Hill. The family first occupied a “ruin,” and later moved a little down the hill to a house the family built with walls and a palapa-type roof. Her mother, Niebas Escalante, and father, Ramón García, came from ranches at La Borcita. They are both still living and in the same house. They had 14 children--eight boys and six girls--with Lupe being the oldest.

Lupe began working at the age of 14. Her first job was with Bill Alcorn, who managed the Portales Hotel. She worked from early morning doing everything needed for a household with three children. She attended secondary school from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., and also from 3 - 5:30 p.m., then returned to the Portales to work until mid evening. Her next jobs were working for a small tienda and then for Marcelino Valenzuela at his general store. The wages were much better at the store, and she helped contribute to the improvement of the house on Guadalupe Hill.

When she married Jorge García, she moved with him to his family’s house at #3 Vera Cruz in Barrio Tacubaya, where her in-laws had lived for 30 years. Bill Norton bought the house in 1952, and he built a house for them at 29 Josefa Domínguez in Las Higuieras where they still live. It consisted of two rooms and a kitchen with an open patio. Lupe remembers the wake and novario sessions for her father-in-law in this open patio. Shortly thereafter they covered it with lamina, which is still there today.

The house was occupied by her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and Techi, a sister-in-law who was the novia of Humberto Soto for many years (although they never married). When the family moved in they had only a bed and some dishes, but gradually they turned it into a comfortable home and raised four children there. In recent years Lupe has added a casita using materials that were left from Preeces’ construction, doing much of the work herself. She has also bought properties to leave to her children.

heir neighbors in Tacubaya were the sisters at #1 Vera Cruz: Anita, Maria, Conchita, and Luz (Acosta, who was married and lived in her own house). Luz, who made the wedding dress for Lupita’s mother, was the mother of Flor Richter, whose sons Bill and Enrique both have property in Álamos, and Melba Magahey, whose children Jess, Andrew, and Julio are also Álamos property owners. Luz died in the late 1990s, and Anita died in the late 1980s.

Lew Wright’s large compound, which was then a partial ruin, was the home of the Villareal family. They later moved to a house on Vera Cruz, which was enlarged into a spacious home. During those years--the first half of the 20th Century--Álamos had many ruins, and people moved freely into then. The “old families” often left homes lavishly furnished with pianos, chandeliers, and elegant furniture as they looked for employment in other cities. Lupe remained in Álamos and is considered “one of the originals.”

Bill and Emily Preece bought the house at #19 Comercio in 1988 from Orien Tolten. The Toltens had owned the house for four years and were restoring it, but Mr.Tolten died before the work was completed--and Mrs. Tolten chose not to remain. Lupe, who was working for the Toltens, stayed on and has worked for the Preeces ever since.

When Lupe was asked how things had changed during he lifetime in Álamos, she replied, “It’s an entirely different place.”