Old San Francisco Historic District in the Stevens Addition lies just southeast of Sunset Heights and northwest of the original downtown area on the scenic lower foothills of the Franklin Mountains. The name “San Francisco” evidently comes from the terrain developed on the northern side of the route used by the El Paso to San Francisco stagecoaches during the 1800s.

All but one of the sixteen buildings in Old San Francisco Historic District were constructed between 1908 and 1923. Old San Francisco Historic District was and is an area of architectural and historical integrity. It is composed of a coherent group of apartment houses with the same basic architectural style and the same building materials, namely brick, stone, and wood. As the southern part of Sunset Heights, Old San Francisco Historic District provided a much needed apartment house district for the growing city of El Paso in the early 1900s.

For the residents of the District itself, the area provided good temporary accommodations at reasonable cost for men who came to El Paso either to work or for their health.

In the 1960s Interstate 10 was cut through W. Wyoming Street separating this neighborhood from Sunset Heights. During the 1970s two adjoining blocks were razed for the construction of the new City Hall. These two blocks contained numerous apartments and boarding houses similar to those on Missouri Street.

On December 6, 1983, the El Paso City Council unanimously approved the Old San Francisco Historic District. This is a positive step toward the rehabilitation of the area and the revitalization of downtown El Paso.

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