What is the origin of the Four Hills name?

The obvious answer would be the four prominent peaks in front of the Manzano Mountains directly south of the neighborhood. Others may know these peaks by what they are: Manzano Base or Manzano Waste Storage Site. And that answer is correct. But there is more to the story than that. 

Anyone familiar with the history of Four Hills Village knows construction on our development began in 1957. Prior to that, the land that makes up most of this neighborhood (as well as Kirtland AFB, Sandia National Labs, and the Sunport) belonged to several homesteaders. Hardy V. Logan was the first major homesteader in this area, buying up large amounts of land between Tijeras and the four peaks throughout the 1920s. Logan is credited with being the first to call the area four hills. He built his house at the base of one of the peaks that make up the area’s namesake.

Wiley S. Johnson was next, spending the better part of the 1930s buying land on the East Mesa for cattle grazing. He called this land the Four Hills Ranch. This is the first recorded instance of using the Four Hills name in an official capacity rather than just a general name for the area. Hardy and Wiley did know each other quite well, so it is not surprising he would adopt the name for his own endeavors. Wiley eventually used his land to open the Four Hills Riding Academy, which was located in the arroyo just before you enter FHV. Wiley had a great deal of success with his riding academy throughout the 1940s and 50s.

By 1941, the Army Air Corp forcibly bought all but a couple of hundred acres of Wiley Johnson and Hardy Logan’s land for the purpose of constructing what is today Kirtland and Sandia. As plans for Four Hills Village and Country Club were finalized, both Logan and Johnson sold most of their remaining land to the development firm building the neighborhood. In 1957, Wiley sold the riding academy and moved to Moriarty. The academy became known as the Four Hills Stables and stayed in business just below the neighborhood for several decades. I am sure more than a few of our residents have ridden there.

Several newspaper articles highlighting the development of the golf course state the country club took its name from Wiley’s Four Hills Ranch. Later, a separate article about the club from around the same time gives a nod to Logan for being the creator of the Four Hills name for the area in general. It is these two homesteaders that we can credit for the Four Hills name. A century later, the name is still going strong.

*Frank Speakman was another major homesteader on the East Mesa. He used much of his land to build Albuquerque’s first airport, where Kirtland AFB and the Sunport now sit. Most of the land used to create Four Hills was his before selling it to Harry Driver’s company for the development of the neighborhood. But that is a whole different story.

Sources:

• Albuquerque Tribune 17 Sep 1979 Pg. A1 and A6

• Albuquerque Tribune 24 Sep 1979 Pg.  A1 and A6

• Albuquerque Tribune 25 May 1988 Pg.. 36

• Albuquerque Tribune 15 April 1985 Pg.. 3

• Albuquerque Journal 17 May 1946 Pg. 15

• Albuquerque Journal 31 May 1946 Pg. 16

• Albuquerque Tribune 29 May 1957 Pg. 1 and 12

• Albuquerque Tribune 12 June 1957 Pg. 21

• Albuquerque Tribune 12 February 1973 Pg. 14

• Albuquerque Tribune 23 April 1979 Pg. 34