History
El Paso's Syrian-Lebanese Community
Syrian-Lebanese immigrants have played a vital role in El Paso's development. The term 'Syrian' relates to a Semitic people whose homeland is known as the Levant, a stretch of land extending east from the Mediterranean Sea.
History
Espejo-Beltran Expedition - 1582-1583
Following the Rodriguez - Chamuscado Expedition of 1581 there was increased interest in the area now known as New Mexico and Texas. There was also concern for the safety of Fray Rodriguez and Fray Lopez, who had stayed in the area. In 1582 a Franciscan priest from Santa Barbara, Mexico, Fray Bernadino Beltran, formed an expedition to find the missionaries.
History
Felix Martinez
In the early twentieth century, Felix Martinez was a prominent Hispanic businessman who worked closely with Anglo American leaders to transform El Paso into a major commercial, industrial and agricultural center of the American Southwest.
Military
Fort Bliss at Lanoria Mesa
In 1849, U.S. troops led by Maj. Jefferson Van Horne established a post in what is now downtown El Paso to secure territory gained in the U.S.-Mexico War, 1846-48. It moved several times: to Magoffinsville in 1854; to Camp Concordia in 1868; back downtown I n1878; to Hart's Mill in the 1880s; and finally to Lanoria Mesa in 1893 on land donated by El Paso citizens.
Military
Fort Bliss, C.S.A.
Surrendered with property and $20,000 to Texas Confederates on March 21, 1861. From old fort, the South launched the New Mexico-Arizona campaign. Later, Confederates abandoned and destroyed most of fort and equipment, except for hospital and medical supplies left for their sick and wounded.
History
Franklin Canal
For centuries, the Rio Grande has been molded and shaped by the humans living along its banks. Informal irrigation systems have existed along the life-sustaining river from the Spanish Colonial period. As early as the 1840s, area farmers began more modern improvements on these systems. By 1889 El Paso developers needed a means to efficiently provide water to farmers in the El Paso Valley.
Nature
Fusselman Canyon
Below is Fusselman Canyon, which follows the Fusselman Canyon Fault, a major natural cut into the Franklin Mountains. For centuries it has served as a natural corridor for the movement of people, goods and livestock between the river valley to the west and the desert basin to the east.
Civic & Local
Granja Rio Vista
La 2a casa de caridad del condado de El Paso, conocida como La Granja Pobre de El Paso, se estableció en este lugar en 1915. John O'Shea, empresario y agricultor rico, tenia su granja a corta distancia, se encargo de las operaciones y su esposa, Agnes, se encargaba de los residentes. En 1929, cuando muri' el Sr.
Architecture
Guardian Angel Church
This Romanesque revival style building was constructed in 1908, soon after the church was founded by the Rev. Carlos M. Pinto, S. J. (1841-1919). A Jesuit priest who began several missions in the El Paso area, Pinto also drew plans and supervised the construction of the building. The elaborate decoration of the church's interior was directed by the Rev. Carmelo Tranchese, S. J.
History
Henry C. Trost
Henry C. Trost Henry C. Trost was one of the most prolific architects of the American Southwest. His history is closely tied to that of his chosen base of operation, El Paso. Ohio native Trost was strongly influenced by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as by the Mission Revival style.
History
Henry O. Flipper
Henry O. Flipper Henry Ossian Flipper (1856-1940) was the first African-American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877. Born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, he came from a family of achievers; his brothers were an African Methodist Episcopal Bishop, a college professor and a farmer. Commissioned as Lieutenant in the 10th U.S.
Architecture
Hotel Cortez
Hotel Cortez Alzina DeGroff bought the Vendome Hotel at this site in 1899, renaming it hotel Orndorff after her first husband. Noted architect Henry C. Trost designed a new building for her, which opened in 1926. Renamed Hotel Cortez in 1935, this brick structure reflects a Spanish eclectic style, featuring prominent cast-relief, terra cotta detailing with busts of conquistadors.
Architecture
Hotel Paso Del Norte
This brick and terra cotta structure was the "dream hotel" of early El Paso businessman and promoter Zach White. White came to the town in 1881 and recognized El Paso's great potential as a gateway to Mexico.
Civic & Local
Houchen Community Center
This center has served El Paso since 1912, though its roots go back to 1893 when Rose Gregory Houchen, a teacher from Michigan, met Margaret Tripp, a member of the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Tripp was a missionary in Segundo Barrio, a Hispanic neighborhood along the U.S.-Mexico border. In 1910, Houchen donated $1,000 to build an institution to help the poor.
History
Hueco Tanks
One of the most historic spots in the Southwest. Famous watering place for Indians, emigrants, and travelers. Near here on many occasions the Apache challenged the right of the white man to pass through and disturb his country. Here was a station of the Southern Overland Mail Line which linked St. Louis with San Francisco, 1858-1861. 1936
History
James H. White
(Feb. 15, 1847 - Aug. 19, 1907) Virginia native James Harrison White came to El Paso in 1869 after serving with the Confederacy in the Civil War. In the 1870s he saw service in the Mexican army, the U. S. Army, and as U. S. Marshal of Las Cruces, New Mexico. As a civic leader and law official, he played a role in El Paso's growth from a small border town to a modern city.
History
Juan de Onate Expedition - 1598
Spanish interest in the territory known as New Mexico increased during the 1580s and 1590s. Although reports of mining and missionary possibilities were significant, King Philip II of Spain was also concerned about New World explorations of rival England.
History
La Purísima Socorro Mission
Weathered wooden crosses and marble headstones punctuate the cemetery that fronts the graceful stepped facade of the 1843 Socorro Mission, just south of El Paso, Texas. Highlighting such surnames as Domínguez, Armendariz, Apodaca, Peña, López, Nuñez and Holguin, the cemetery documents over a century of life and death in the 17th-century settlement of Socorro del Sur, located on the southern…
Architecture
Los Portales
Local farmer, rancher, and landowner Gregorio Nacenseno Garcia constructed this building as his family's residence about 1855. Built in the territorial style, it features milled wood detailing. Because of its distinctive inset gallery (portal), it became known as Los Portales. In the 1870s, the structure was converted to use as a schoolhouse.
History
Lugar Inicial De Mision De Socorro
Despues de 80 anos de ocupacion Espanola, el group indigena Pueblo del Norte de Nuevo Mexico, se alzo en contra de los Espanoles, expulsandolos por un lapso de 12 anos. Los refugiados Espanoles, asi como algunos miembros de otras tribus de Nuevo Mexico, siguieron el Rio Bravo hacia el sureste, llegando al area del Paso del Norte, donde establecieron misiones y nuevos asentamientos.
History
Mabel Welch
Mabel C. (Vanderburg) Welch, El Paso's first certified female architect, is credited with reintroducing Spanish-style architecture to the city. Early El Paso residents built with adobe bricks, a method common to the region.
History
Magoffinsville
One of four population centers during the early period of American settlement of the present El Paso area, Magoffinsville was founded by Kentucky native James Wiley Magoffin (1799-1868). In 1849, he began acquiring land in this vicinity. The headquarters of his property was at Magoffin and Willow streets (10 blks. E).
Architecture
Martin Building
This seven-story commercial building was constructed in 1917 by businessmen M. D. Roberts and William Martin Banner, for whom it was named. Designed by the architectural firm of Brauhton and Leibert, it features Chicago style detailing in the use of decorative terra cotta and large windows.
History
Memorial Park
A group of New York and El Paso investors formed the Federal Copper Company in 1899. By 1901 a smelter was in operation at this site, processing ore from Arizona and Mexico. Due to declining copper prices and competition from area companies, the firm was unsuccessful and ceased to exist by 1908. Part of the property was later developed by Leo C.
History
Mesa Water Boosting Station
In 1903, Charles R. Morehead won the El Paso mayoral race on a platform that promised an acceptable water system for the city. Later that year, the International Water Company (IWC) began construction of a water works on the mesa north of Fort Bliss to tap into the Hueco Bolson Aquifer. Around 1904, IWC replaced the compressor with a new pump plant.
Elsewhere in Texas
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