102 year old wall

I bought a 102 year old house in Old Town of Albuquerque, NM last year and so far, so good.

The original structure is only about 1/3 of the current house and includes what is now the dining room and kitchen. I would like to remove the wall separating these two rooms, as it would greatly improve the layout of the house, as well as heating/cooling efficiency.

My issue is this: I do not know what the internal structure of the wall is. I assume it to be adobe at the core, but it appears to have been added to at some point. So my best guess is that it is now adobe sandwiched between wood frame & drywall.

I have zero to no remodeling experience. I know that if it is a load-bearing wall (which it is) then I need to have a professional install a pillar or a beam of some sort. However, without knowing for sure what the internal structure of the wall is, I can’t be sure what the cost may be to have it removed, or if there is potentially something awesome hidden in the 100+ year old wall. I’m also afraid there may be (and probably is) asbestos in there somewhere.

I’m eager to find out, but I don’t have the money needed to have the entire project done right away. The external layer is wooden paneling which is easily removed. I’m just not sure if it is worth it to dig into the wall now to find out what I’m dealing with on the inside (what if there are already pillars or something cool inside these 100 year old New Mexican walls?!) or do I wait until I for sure can pay for the worst case scenario... or are there other options that I don’t know of?

If I did want to get rid of the wall (as cheaply as possible), how much demo can/should I do before inviting a professional in to do the big stuff? What are my steps?

If one side is drywall, I would suggest cutting a horizontal strip of drywall out, maybe a foot or so wide, so you or a pro can take a look inside the wall, to see what is in there. If it is the worst case, and you cannot remove the wall at the current time, it's pretty easy to replace the drywall, and then spackle and paint.

Welcome.
If there is a doorway through this wall, measuring the width of a jamb leg will gives an Idea of the possible wall composition.

What brought you to the conclusion that the wall is load bering?

The wall is part of the original structure of the house, which was only about 3 rooms. Based on the original layout, it’s very unlikely it’s not load bearing. A friend of mine who does construction looked at it and agreed it is likely load bearing.

The jamb of the doorway is about 14-16” wide.

Ceiling and roof structure are what will tell you if it is load bearing. Do the ends of the joists land on this wall or do joists join over the wall. Or do they run in the same direction as the wall.

Thanks.
Is there a crawl space under the floor, or is the dwelling on a slab?
We'er not interested in the address, but could you post a photo of the street side, and the side of the dwelling that the wall you are planning to remove, intersects.