DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories where a man builds something out of nothing, and then watches fate — and Federal forces — take a good portion of it away. We're talking about Magoffinsville, right here in what would become El Paso, and it all starts with a Kentucky man named James Wiley Magoffin, born in 1799.
In 1849, Magoffin began acquiring land in this vicinity — and I want you to picture what that meant. This wasn't downtown. This wasn't a booming city.
This was the early period of American settlement, one of only four population centers in the whole El Paso area. Four. And Magoffin plants his flag right here.
The headquarters of his property sat at Magoffin and Willow streets, about ten blocks east of where you're standing now. There he built a large home, and buildings to serve his trading, his ranching, and his farming. In short, the man built a world.
And that world had a gravity to it. Magoffinsville became the center of social and business life for the area. Travelers coming through — and this was hard country to travel through — were often given rest right there in the Magoffin home.
That's the kind of place it was. Then in 1854, the United States Army took notice. Fort Bliss, a United States Army post, was established at Magoffinsville on leased land, and it stayed there until 1868.
So now you've got a trading hub, a social anchor, and a military post all wrapped up in one man's property. James Wiley Magoffin had built himself something considerable. But then came the Civil War.
And this is where the story turns hard. Magoffin's property was confiscated by Federal forces. His home was badly damaged.
When the war was over, Magoffin was in poor health. He moved to San Antonio — and in 1868, the same year Fort Bliss departed Magoffinsville, James Wiley Magoffin died. The following year, his widow Dolores and his eldest son Joseph regained some of the property.
Some. Not all — some. And Joseph, being his father's son, got to work.
He began selling parcels of the land, and by 1873 he was an organizer of the El Paso Real Estate Trust and Immigration Company. The land his father had staked in 1849 was becoming something new, parcel by parcel. And the home you might be looking at right now, at 1110 Magoffin Avenue, built in 1875 in the style of the original Magoffin Home — that's Joseph's.
Not the original. A reflection of it. A man honoring what his father built, in the only way still available to him.
That's Magoffinsville. One man's vision, one family's loss, and one son's quiet determination to keep something of it alive.
What the marker says
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). There he built a large home and buildings to serve his trading, ranching, and farming activities. Magoffinsville became the center of social and business activities for the area and travelers often were given rest in the Magoffin home. From 1854 until 1868, Fort Bliss, a United States Army post, was located at Magoffinsville on leased land. During the Civil War, Magoffin's property was confiscated by Federal forces and his home was badly damaged. After the war, Magoffin, in poor health, moved to San Antonio, where he died in 1868. The following year his widow, Dolores, and eldest son, Joseph, regained some of the property. Joseph began selling parcels of the land and by 1873 was an organizer of the El Paso Real Estate Trust and Immigration Company. His home at this site (1110 Magoffin Avenue), although not a part of Magoffinsville, was built in 1875 in the style of the original Magoffin Home. (1985)