Pioneer Plaza
125 Pioneer Plaza
El Paso, Texas 79901
Pioneer Plaza was the hub of public activity in early El Paso.
A United States military guard was posted here in the late 1870s to defend citizens from Apache Indian attacks, and military bands performed in this small plaza.
An irrigation ditch flowed along the south boundary of the plaza and nourished a line of trees, which shaded the area. One became known as the “Newspaper Tree” on which public notices were posted. Major roads and trails passed through the plaza.
United States President William H. Taft and Mexican President Porfirio Díaz each passed through the plaza en route to the Chamber of Commerce building for their Historic meeting on October 16, 1909.
Historical markers located in Pioneer Plaza include El Paso, El Paso’s First Newspaper, Fray Garcia de San Francisco, and Pioneer Plaza.
