Last updated on .
We only took a few minutes to explore downtown El Paso, Texas. It was kind of quiet and there was some nice architecture, but I feel we didn’t do the city enough justice. This entry only contains a handful of buildings we passed by.
San Jacinto Plaza
We started our walk around downtown El Paso at San Jacinto Plaza. It’s a historic plaza in the heart of the city. The land occupied by the plaza was first purchased in 1827 by Juan María Ponce de León, who used it as corrals for his ranch. León’s heirs sold it to William T. Smith, who later sold it to the city in 1881.
The land was cleared and a park was built in 1883. There was a gazebo, 75 Chinese elms, and a pond with three alligators. In 1903, the park was officially named after the Battle of San Jacinto in which Texas gained its independence. The alligators were moved to the El Paso Zoo in 1965, and briefly returned between 1972 and 1974.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to enter the center of San Jacinto Plaza. It was undergoing a renovation which lasted from February 2014 to April 2016.
Some of the most interesting buildings in downtown El Paso are situated around the plaza. One of them is the Cortez Building, which features ornate carvings on the façade.
Plaza Hotel
Just south of San Jacinto Plaza is the Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park. Legendary hotelier Conrad Hilton (1887-1979) started construction on the building in the fall of 1929, and it opened as the Hilton Hotel on November 30, 1930. It was one of Hilton’s first high-rise hotels, and at that time, it was the tallest building in El Paso. It was designed by Trost & Trost and stands 19 stories high. Hilton lived in the building for many years, as did his mother. Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) also lived there for a short time during her marriage to Nicky Hilton (1926-1969).
Hilton sold the hotel in 1963 and it was renamed the Plaza Hotel. It remained open until 1991. Local businessman Paul Foster purchased it in 2008. It was renovated and reopened in June 2020 as the Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park.
The Plaza Hotel sits on the site of the Sheldon Hotel, which burned down on April 9, 1929. It was an unofficial headquarters of many participants of the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920.
Statue of Friar García de San Francisco
Continuing west is a statue of Friar García de San Francisco (Fray García de San Francisco). He was a Franciscan friar who in 1659 founded the mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), which still stands across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This marked the founding of El Paso del Norte, which is today made up of El Paso on the north side of the Rio Grande and Ciudad Juárez to the south. The first settlement north of the river in what is now El Paso was in 1680. The statue was made by American sculptor John Sherrill Houser (1935-2018) and it was dedicated in 1996.
Plaza Theatre
Across the street is the historic Plaza Theatre. Construction began in 1929. It was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by architect W. Scott Dunne from Dallas. It opened on September 12, 1930, with the movie Follow Through showing to a capacity crowd of 2,410.
In the 1970s, the Plaza Theatre fell into disrepair and was sold, followed by periods of openings and closings. The theatre closed its doors in 1989 and was threatened with demolition, but enough money was raised to save it. It was renovated and reopened on March 17, 2006. The original Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, which was auctioned off in 1973, was donated back to the city, rebuilt, and reinstalled in the theatre.
El Paso Museum of Art
Just west of the Plaza Theatre is the El Paso Museum of Art. It was founded in 1959 to house a donation to the city by the Samuel Kress Foundation containing several European Baroque and Renaissance works. The museum moved to its current location in 1998 and boasts a collection that has grown to over 7,000 works. It’s open Thursday through Saturday and has free admission.
El Paso Convention Center
A huge area of downtown El Paso is occupied by the El Paso Convention Center. One of the main venues is the Abraham Chavez Theatre, which hosts several major events such as concerts, comedy specials, ballet, and theatrical performances.
Southwest University Park
North of the convention center is Southwest University Park. This baseball field is the home of the El Paso Chihuahuas, a minor league team. It opened in 2014 and has a capacity of up to 10,000. It sits on the former site of the El Paso City Hall.
El Paso Public Library
Finally, next to the El Paso Museum of History, which is covered in a separate entry, is the El Paso Public Library Main Branch. The library system was founded by local teacher Mary Irene Stanton (1862-1946) in 1894, when she donated her personal collection of over 1,000 books for a reading club.
The first library building was a Carnegie library that opened on April 25, 1904, but the collection outgrew that building and moved in 1954. The original Carnegie library was demolished in 1968.
