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San Elizario is a small city on the banks of the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas. It has an interesting history and is a stop on the El Paso Mission Trail.
History
The first Europeans to pass through the area were led by Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1488-c. 1560) in 1535, who was exploring what is now the Southwest United States.
On April 30, 1598, Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate y Salazar (1550-1626), who was leading a group of 539 colonists north to settle New Mexico, stopped in the area. A mass of thanksgiving was held, and Oñate performed a ceremony called La Toma (The Taking), in which he declared that all territory north of the Rio Grande belonged to King Felipe II of Spain.
The first civilian settlement was formed before 1760 as Hacienda de los Tiburcios. It was abandoned by the 1770s, but in 1789, the Spaniards built a fort there. The Presidio de San Elzeario, which was established in 1774, was moved north to better protect the towns of Ysleta and Socorro. The town that grew around the fort took its name, San Elzeario, which was Americanized to San Elizario after the Mexican-American War.
San Elizario was incorporated as a town several times between 1871 and 1911. It was re-incorporated on November 5, 2013, after an annexation attempt by Socorro.
San Elizario Placita
At the center of town is the San Elizario Placita. This small plaza contains tall trees and benches and has a gazebo in the middle. The town’s most important historic buildings sit on the plaza.
Presidio Chapel
On the south side of the plaza is the Presidio Chapel of San Elizario (La Capilla de San Elzéar), which served as a chapel for members of the military and their families living at Presidio de San Elzeario. Although it was never a mission, it’s part of the El Paso Mission Trail.
The original chapel, dating back to 1789, fell into disrepair after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821. It was destroyed by flooding in 1829 and was in ruins by 1848. The chapel was reconstructed as a small church in 1853.
By the 1870s, that church proved to be inadequate. The current structure was built between 1877 and 1882 with the bell tower added later. It has plastered adobe walls.
Los Portales
On the west side of the plaza is a building known as Los Portales (The Portals). It was built around 1850 and was the home of Captain Gregorio Nacianceno Garcia. He donated the building to the town to be used as a school, and it served as such until 1936.
Today, the building hosts the Los Portales Museum. It’s open daily except Mondays and admission is free (as of September 2023). The museum displays lots of information about the history of San Elizario, as well as why the town claims to have celebrated the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States, 23 years before the pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.
Main Street
A block behind the plaza is Main Street, where you’ll find a collection of art galleries and shops situated in a few historic buildings.
Old El Paso County Jail
Finally, on the west end of Main Street is the Old El Paso County Jail. It served as the first county jail from 1850 to 1866, and the third from 1868-1873. The building dates back to about 1850 and housed both a jail (carcel) and courtroom (juzgado). It features two iron cage cells made in Chicago. Each cell was able to hold six prisoners. Today, the building is a museum. It’s open daily except Mondays and admission is free (as of September 2023).
According to legend, the Old El Paso County Jail has the distinction of being the only jail Billy the Kid (1859-1881) ever broke into. In November 1876, his friend, Melquiades Segura, was being held there. Billy dressed up as a Texas Ranger and asked the jailer to open the door. He then pointed his revolver at the guards, took their guns and the key to the jail, locked the guards inside a cell, and threw away the key. Billy the Kid and Segura then took off for Mexico, which was only a ½ mile away. A statue of Billy the Kid stands outside the jail as well as a gallows and a mural for tourists to take photos.
Another interesting story is that Constable Antonio Trujillo, who served from the 1920s to 1970s, used to house prisoners there until he could transport them to El Paso. He would also lock up misbehaving students for a few hours at the request of the school superintendent in order to scare them straight.
El Bandido (Permanently Closed)
For lunch, we visited El Bandido, which was a decent Mexican restaurant with a Billy the Kid theme. It had a Billy the Kid mural on the outer wall and a nice outdoor patio with a carving of Billy in a tree.
