DOWNTOWN EL PASO HISTORY...

The history of El Paso...

The name of the city of El Paso has a rich historic significance, comprising a shortened version of El Paso del Rio del Norte, which was the name given to the beautiful river valley by the Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate more than four hundred years ago.

El Paso is the seat of El Paso County in the state of Texas and is a part of the American Southwest. El Paso has experienced northward expansion out of New Spain, the westward expansion of American pioneers, the advent of railroads to the western frontier, the days of outlaws and gunslingers, Indian wars and peace, the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican-American War, the birth of the U.S. Cavalry and the Texas Rangers.

El Paso is located in the farthest western tip of Texas, situated on the Rio Grande, across the border from Ciudad Juárez. The two cities, El Paso (shortened from El Paso Del Río del Norte, the Crossing of the River) and Ciudad Juárez (formerly El Paso del Norte, the Pass to the North) are considered sister cities, and the combined populations comprise one of the largest border populations in the world.

1500s...

The first party of Spaniards that indisputably found the Pass of the North was the Rodríguez-Sánchez expedition of 1581, whose arrival marked the beginning of 400 years of history in the El Paso area. This expedition was followed by the Espejo-Beltrán expedition of 1582, and afterwards came the historic expedition under Juan de Oñate.

On April 30, 1598, in a ceremony at a site near that of present day San Elizario, the Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate took formal possession of the entire territory drained by the Río del Norte (the Rio Grande). This act brought Spanish civilization to the Pass of the North and laid the foundations of more than two centuries of Spanish rule over a vast area comprising what are now portions of Texas, Mexico and New Mexico. The Juan de Oñate expedition and settlement, during the same ceremony, celebrated the first Thanksgiving on United States' soil.

1600s...

In the late 1650s Fray García founded the mission of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on the south bank of the Rio Grande, which still stands in downtown Ciudad Juárez. The Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680 sent Spanish colonists and Tigua Indians of New Mexico fleeing southward to take refuge at the pass in what are now called the Franklin mountains, bringing with them the names of New Mexico river pueblos, including La Isleta and Socorro, to the El Paso area.

On October 12, 1680, midway between the Spanish settlement of Santísimo Sacramento and the Indian settlement of San Antonio, the first Mass in Texas was celebrated at a site near that of present day Ysleta, which was placed on what is now the Texas side by the shifting river in 1829. As a result, Ysleta has a claim to being the oldest town in Texas. By 1682 five settlements had been founded along the south bank of the Rio Grande; El Paso del Norte, San Lorenzo, Senecú, Ysleta, and Socorro.

For the next few centuries the Spanish settlements along the border flourished. Missions were founded at Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario. The economy was primarily agriculture, mining and transportation. The El Paso area was an important stop on the Camino Real that served the Santa Fe Trail and the interior of Mexico.

1700s...

By the mid-1700s, roughly 5,000 people lived in the El Paso area, including Spaniards, mestizos and Indians, comprising the largest and most complex population on the Spanish northern frontier.

A large dam and a series of irrigation ditches (acequias) provided thriving agriculture for the area. The area became an important trade center on one of the historic caminos reales, or royal highways. Vineyards flourished, producing wine and brandy that ranked in quality with the best in the entire region.

In 1789 the Spanish military presidio of San Elizario was founded to help in the defense of the El Paso settlements against the Apaches. El Paso was the southernmost locality of the Provincia de Nuevo Mexico, which is now modern day New Mexico, which communicated with Santa Fe and Mexico City by the Camino Real. Few foreign travelers, outside of Spanish merchants and officials, ventured so far north, as it typically took six months for a trading caravan to reach Mexico City.

1800s...

With the establishment of Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, the El Paso area and what is now the American Southwest became a part of the Mexican nation. Agriculture, ranching, and commerce continued to flourish, but the Rio Grande frequently overflowed its banks, causing great damage to fields, crops, and adobe structures. In 1829 the unpredictable river flooded much of the lower Rio Grande Valley and formed a new channel that ran south of the towns of Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario, thus placing them on an island some 20 miles long and two to foiur miles wide.

Of the various land grants made by the local officials in El Paso del Norte, the best known and most successful was given to Juan María Ponce De León, a Paseño aristocrat, in what is now the downtown business district of El Paso, Texas. By this time a number of U.S. citizens were engaged in the Chihuahua trade, two of whom, James W. Magoffin and Hugh Stephenson, were to become El Paso pioneers.

After the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Mexico in May 1846, Col. Alexander Doniphan and a force of American volunteers defeated the Mexicans at the Battle of Brazito, entered El Paso del Norte and invaded Chihuahua in December. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 officially ended the Mexican War and fixed the boundary between the two nations at the Rio Grande, the Gila River, the Colorado River and westward to the Pacific. All territory north of that line (known as the Mexican Cession and comprising half of Mexico's national domain) became part of the United States, following a $15 million payment to Mexico. In this manner El Paso del Norte, the future Ciudad Juárez, became a border town.

By late 1849, aided by the gold rush to California, five settlements had been founded along the left bank of the Rio Grande. These settlements were Frontera, established by T. Frank White; a flour mill known as El Molino, founded by Simeon Hart; a mercantile store founded by Benjamin Franklin Coons, located on the ranch purchased from Ponce de León; Magoffinsville, built by James W. Magoffin; and the settlement of Hugh Stephenson, later called Concordia.

In addition to these settlements, the three Mexican towns of Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario were declared to be in the United States. By 1850 the bicultural, bilingual foundations of the future El Paso, Texas, were clearly established.

A number of important developments during the 1850s shaped the character of the area north of the river. A settlement on Coons' Rancho called Franklin became the nucleus of El Paso, Texas. El Paso County was established in March 1850, with San Elizario as the first county seat. The United States Senate fixed a boundary between Texas and New Mexico at the thirty-second parallel, and a military post called Fort Bliss was established in 1854.

The Butterfield Overland Mail arrived in 1858. A year later pioneer Anson Mills completed his plat of the town of El Paso, a name that resulted in endless confusion until the name of the town across the river, El Paso del Norte, was changed to Ciudad Juárez in 1888.

During the Civil War most of the El Paso pioneers were overwhelmingly sympathetic to the South. Although Confederate forces occupied Fort Bliss in 1861, the tide began to turn in favor of the Union cause the following year, and in August the Stars and Stripes was raised once again over Fort Bliss. The local Southern sympathizers eventually received presidential pardons, but some, such as Simeon Hart, battled for years before they recovered their properties.

In 1877 the region had its own civil war, the Salt War of San Elizario, a bloody racial conflict that had little to do with salt that set
Texan against Mexican, strong man against strong man, faction against faction and the United States against Mexico. Bad blood, personality conflicts, and intense personal rivalries characterized the affair, and mob violence, rape, robbery, and murder went unpunished with the breakdown of law enforcement. At length Fort Bliss, which had been shut down, was reestablished, and six months of bloodshed was finally brought to a halt.

Most historians agree that the arrival of the railroads in 1881 and 1882 was the single most significant event in El Paso history,
transforming a sleepy, dusty little adobe village of several hundred inhabitants into a flourishing frontier community that became the county seat in 1883 and reached a population of more than 10,000 by 1890.

With the increased population, El Paso developed a need for ways to enrich the growing community. El Paso's two major newspapers, the Times and the Herald Post, date from the early 1880s, and the town has operated a public transportation system since 1882. The El Paso Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest in the state, traces its roots back to 1893. Public education in El Paso began with the establishment of an elementary school in 1884 and a high school in 1885.

The Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company constructed a large smelter at El Paso in 1887 and merged with several smaller companies in 1899 to become the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), which continued to be a major local employer into the 1980s.

As El Paso became a western boomtown, it also became "Six Shooter Capital" and "Sin City," where scores of saloons, dance halls, gambling establishments, and houses of prostitution lined the main streets. At first the city fathers exploited the town's evil reputation by permitting vice for a price, but in time the more farsighted began to insist that El Paso's future might be in jeopardy if vice and crime were not brought under a measure of control. In the 1890s reform-minded citizens conducted a campaign to curb El Paso's most visible forms of vice and lawlessness.

1900s...

After 1900, El Paso began to shed its frontier image and develop as a modern municipality and significant industrial, commercial and transportation center. In 1905, the City of El Paso finally enacted ordinances closing houses of gambling and prostitution. The city grew from 15,906 in 1900 to 39,279 in 1910 and 77,560 in 1925. The exodus of refugees fleeing the disruption of the Mexican Revolution contributed heavily to the city's population growth during this period.

A major characteristic of El Paso is its special relationship with Mexico in general and Ciudad Juárez in particular. Historic developments such as the Taft-Díaz meeting of 1909; the taking of Ciudad Juárez by the revolutionary forces of Francisco I. Madero in 1911; the activities of Francisco (Pancho) Villa, particularly the raid on Columbus, New Mexico, followed by Gen. John J. Pershing's punitive expedition of 1916; the immigration of Mexican families, rich and poor, during and after the Mexican Revolution; the smuggling and bootlegging activities during the Prohibition era; the Chamizal dispute and its settlement in 1964; and the growing interdependence of the two cities all attest to the unique relationship existing between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.

The completion of Elephant Butte Dam in 1916 in New Mexico ensured a steady water supply for agricultural development and helped cotton to become the predominant local crop.

The State School of Mines and Metallurgy opened in 1914, held its first commencement in 1916, changed its name to Texas Western College in 1949, and became the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967. El Paso has had several junior colleges, beginning with the College of the City of El Paso, which held classes for two years starting in 1918 and was followed by El Paso Junior College from 1920 to 1927 and the current El Paso Community College, established in 1972.

Standard Oil Company of Texas, now Chevron USA, Texaco, and Phelps Dodge located major refineries in El Paso in 1928 and 1929. Prohibition provided a boost to the local economy by stimulating a growing tourist trade with the drinking and gambling establishments across the border in Juárez.

For more than 130 years Fort Bliss has played a significant role in local, national, and international affairs, and the relationship between the city and the post has always been close. The military establishment was responsible for much of El Paso's growth during the 1940s and 1950s, when El Paso absorbed the town of Isleta and greatly increased its municipal area.

Textiles, tourism, the manufacture of cement and building materials, the refining of metals and petroleum, and food processing were El Paso's major industries in 1980. Prominent locally manufactured goods included Tony Lama boots and Farah slacks.

The rapid growth that characterized El Paso during the first quarter of the twentieth century slowed somewhat during the 1930s. After reaching 102,421 in the 1930 census the population declined to 96,810 by the 1940 census. Postwar development brought the number of residents up to 130,003 in 1950. Fueled by rapid military and commercial expansion, El Paso's population more than doubled during the next ten years, reaching 276,687 in 1960. Slower but steady growth continued throughout the 1960s, with the population reaching 339,615 in 1970. The population of El Paso has always been predominantly Hispanic.

In the 1870s, a population of 23 Anglos and 150 Hispanics was reported. By 1980, the population was 62.5 percent Spanish-surnamed. The interaction between the Spanish-Mexican North and the Anglo-American Southwest continued to be the dominant feature of El Paso's culture.

elpasonext...

There are great things happening in Downtown El Paso. The excitement around what will come next is contagious.

The vision of a Downtown for all El Pasoans to live, work, shop and playis set in the Downtown Plan adopted in October 2006 and tells us what to expect next in the revitalization story.

A step in realizing that vision was the creation of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) in December 2006, helping redevelopment pay for itself. The appointment of a board of community-minded individuals came next. The TIRZ Board is helping guide the implementation of the Downtown Plan and judiciously looking for public investment opportunities in partnership with current and potential investors.

Next was the creation of various incentives to help property owners and tenants improve their buildings. The Facade Improvement Grant program transformed the facades of 12 existing buildings in just one year, one building at a time.

A set of announcements of major investments into vacant buildings and vacant land came next. The Mills Plaza renovation was announced in February 2007. Young El Pasoans announced in 2008 their plan to convert a vacant warehouse built in 1919 into a mixed-use project, with retail on the ground floor and market-rate condo units in the upper floors. The SoGo (south of government) district project received permits in January 2009. A 91-unit housing development -- with 19 of the units reserved at affordable housing rates -- was announced in 2008 on currently vacant property, addressing an important guiding value for City Council and for the TIRZ Board.

In 2008, the corporate headquarters of El Paso Electric moved to its newly-acquired Kaiser building and Western Refinery started moving to their new Downtown corporate headquarters at the White House Building. The next sets of announcements revolved around the opening of new restaurants in 2008 -- Ruli’s International Kitchen in the Cortez Building, El Paso City Grill on Mesa and Third Street and others.

Next, the TIRZ expects to fund public infrastructure around the announced investments to improve public sidewalks, streets and open spaces near and around private sector investment.
2009 begins with the opening of the Double Tree Hotel at the edge of Downtown next to Interstate-10, more work on developing housing within the area and investments into the parks.

Be part of what is next for Downtown…

Historic Buildings...

DOWNTOWN El Paso National Registry Listings

Property	Address	Constructed
Abdou Building	115 North Mesa Street	1909-1910
El Paso Union Passenger Station	Coldwell Street at San Francisco	1905
First Mortgage Company Building	109 North Oregon Street	1920-1921
Hotel Paso del Norte	101-115 South El Paso Street	1910-1912
J.J. Newberry Company Building	201-205 North Stanton Street	1911
Magoffin Home	1120 Magoffin Avenue	1875
Martin Building	215 North Stanton Street	1916-1917
O.T. Bassett Tower	301 Texas Avenue	1929-1930
Palace Theater	209 South El Paso Street	1914
Plaza Hotel	106 Mills Avenue	1929-1930
Plaza Theater	125 Pioneer Plaza	1930
Popular Department Store	102 North Mesa Street	1912, 1916
Richard Caples Building	300 East San Antonio Street	1909, 1915-1916
Roberts-Banner Building	215 North Mesa Street	1908-1910
Singer Sewing Company Building	211-213 Texas Avenue	1928
State National Bank	114-118 East San Antonio Avenue	1922
Toltec Building	602 Magoffin Avenue	1910
United States Courthouse	511 West San Antonio Avenue	1936
United States Post Office	209-219 Mills Avenue	1916-1917
W. S. Hills Commercial Building	215-219 San Antonio Avenue	1926-1927
White House Department Store and Hotel McCoy	109-123 Pioneer Plaza	1912

Gallery...

Enjoy our gallery of historic DOWNTOWN El Paso photos.