El Paso

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of El Paso. Long before anyone was writin' history down, various Indian tribes called this stretch of the Rio Grande home. Then the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, and the recording began.

Four centuries of it, in fact. Spanish colonization, Mexican rule, Anglo railroad building, industrialization. El Paso has seen just about every chapter a city can live through.

The earliest settlements took root on the south side of the Rio Grande, at a place called El Paso del Norte, which translates to the pass of the north. That name tells you something about what this place meant to travelers and traders long before it was a city on any map. When the Rio Grande was drawn as the boundary between the United States and Mexico, something interesting happened on the north bank.

A settlement called Franklin grew up there, and in time, that settlement took the name El Paso. Meanwhile, the original El Paso del Norte community on the south side became Ciudad Juarez. Same river.

Two cities. One crossing that mattered to everyone. Now, the 1800s brought some serious momentum to the north side.

Fort Bliss was established in 1854. The Butterfield Overland Mail route arrived in 1858. And then came the railroads in the 1880s, and brother, that changed everything.

Economic boom, population surge, a frontier community findin' its stride. By 1883, El Paso had become the seat of El Paso county government. What really set this city apart, though, was its position.

Sitting right on the international border, with mining areas in northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona all within reach, El Paso grew into something the marker calls multi-cultural and multifaceted. Unique among Texas communities. That's not boosterism.

That's four centuries of history doing the talking.

What the marker says

Inhabited by various Indian tribes prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century, El Paso has played an important role in the history of Mexico and the United States. Its four centuries of recorded history span periods of Spanish colonization, Mexican rule, and Anglo railroad building and industrialization. Early settlements were established on the south side of the Rio Grande at El Paso del Norte (the pass of the north). After the Rio Grande became a boundary between the United States and Mexico, a settlement called Franklin grew up on the north side of the river and eventually took the name El Paso. The original El Paso del Norte settlement on the south side became Ciudad Juarez. The establishment of Fort Bliss in 1854, the arrival of the Butterfield Overland Mail route in 1858, and the building of the railroads in the 1880s brought an economic boom and increased population. The flourishing frontier community became the seat of El Paso county government in 1883. Its proximity to mining areas in northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona, combined with its geographic location on the international border made El Paso a multi-cultural, multifaceted city unique among Texas communities. (1991) Incise on the base: Dr. W.H. Timmons Fund, El Paso Community Foundation