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El Paso is a dusty border city in West Texas. I wasn’t expecting much, but it turned out to be better than expected.
Introduction to El Paso
The area making up El Paso was originally inhabited by the Manso, Suma, and Jumano people. El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez), was founded on the south bank of the Rio Grande by Franciscan Friar García de San Francisco (1602-1673) in 1659. The north bank (present-day El Paso), was first settled in 1680 but remained largely undeveloped during Spanish rule. The city was economically tied to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The first Americans arrived in El Paso until 1849, a year after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the north bank of the Rio Grande to the United States. Originally part of New Mexico, the settlement was named Franklin and was formally made a part of Texas in the Compromise of 1850. It was renamed El Paso in 1852 and laid out in 1859. The city was finally incorporated in 1873.
The railroad arrived in 1881 and El Paso saw immediate growth. Merchants, entrepreneurs, and immigrants flocked to the area to take advantage of the Mexican Free Trade Zone. However, it was still a frontier town that also attracted outlaws, prostitutes, and thieves. It was a lawless place full of saloons and gambling houses, which flourished until World War I.
El Paso became the county seat in 1883, and cultural and educational institutions sprung up. The Mexican Revolution, which took place between 1910 and 1920, saw around 60,000 refugees move north of the border to flee the violence. Many stayed, developing a significant middle-class Mexican community that helped shape the modern culture of the city.
The city’s economic boom came to a halt with the Great Depression but got a boost with the expansion of nearby Fort Bliss. Industry followed, dominated by copper smelting and oil refining.
El Paso Today
Today, El Paso continues to thrive as an important border city. It boasts the largest bilingual and binational workforce in the Western Hemisphere and is the second largest Hispanic majority city in the United States after San Antonio. Fort Bliss is the city’s largest employer and the second largest military installation in the country. There are also some decent museums and plenty of historic sites as well as natural recreation in the area.
Getting to El Paso
The city is served by El Paso International Airport (ELP), which is only a few miles northeast of downtown. It has flights to all major cities in Texas as well as Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta, among others (as of August 2025).
Where to Stay in El Paso
There are lots of decent options for any budget, but we opted to go as cheap as possible.
Motel 6 El Paso West
I should really title this “Where NOT to Stay in El Paso”. We stayed two nights at the Motel 6 El Paso West, which is a short drive from both downtown and the New Mexico border. It was a horrible stay, to say the least. The clientele weren’t exactly of the best character and we didn’t feel safe there. I’m pretty sure we witnessed some illegal business transactions in the parking lot and judging by the screams coming from other rooms, possibly domestic violence. Besides those issues, it wasn’t very clean and the bed was uncomfortable. Some of the complimentary appliances didn’t work, either. Stay as far away as possible from this area.
Where to Eat in El Paso
For meals, we mostly had fast food or cooked in the rooms. We only visited one place during our stay.
Coffee Box
Coffee Box on San Jacinto Square is a great coffee shop in stacked freight containers. They have a big selection of creative coffees and teas, service is friendly, and the drinks are excellent. It’s a wonderful place to sit and relax while sipping on a delicious drink.
Crossing the Border to Ciudad Juárez
If you’d like to hop across the border to Ciudad Juárez, you can literally walk across the Paso del Norte International Bridge (Puente Internacional Paso del Norte). Also known as the Santa Fe Street Bridge and the Benito Juárez Bridge (Puente Benito Juárez), it was originally built in the 19th century. The current bridge dates back to 1967 and is one of the busiest border crossings in the United States.
Follow the pedestrian section to cross the bridge. Once on the Mexican side, it’s a straight shot into the historic city center just a few blocks away. We didn’t have to show our passports to enter Mexico.
Coming back to the United States, walk back across the bridge and go through passport control. It usually only takes a few minutes for processing if you’re a US citizen. Lines are super long if you’re driving, so it’s much better to walk. You don’t need a car in Ciudad Juárez, anyway.
San Jacinto Plaza
San Jacinto Plaza is a historic plaza in the heart of the city and a great place to start exploring El Paso. 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 3 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.
Hotel Cortez
Some of the most impressive buildings in El Paso are situated around San Jacinto Plaza. One of them is the former Hotel Cortez, which features ornate carvings on the façade. It was built in 1926 for Alzina Orndorff DeGroff (1858/59-1926) and opened as the Hotel Orndorff. The architects were Trost & Trost. Hussmann Hotel Company purchased the building in 1933 and renamed it Hotel Hussmann and then Hotel Cortez in 1935.
The hotel closed in 1970 and became the El Paso Job Corps Center. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 1980. It was fully converted into an office building in 1984. Today, it hosts the Cortez Ballrooms.
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park is on the southwest corner of San Jacinto Plaza. 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 the building 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. He was a Franciscan 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 Wednesday through Sunday and admission is free (as of August 2025).
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 opened in 2014 and has a capacity of up to 10,000. It’s the home of the El Paso Chihuahuas, a minor league team, and sits on the former site of the El Paso City Hall.
El Paso Museum of History
The El Paso Museum of History is just east of the ballpark. It’s a fantastic look into the culture and history of the city of El Paso. The museum was founded in 1974 as the Cavalry Museum. It was renamed in 1980 and the current building opened on June 16, 2007. It boasts a collection of over 10,000 artifacts, images, documents, and other items.
The El Paso Museum of History is open Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is always free with a suggested donation of US$3 (as of August 2025). Pictures without flash as well as videos are welcome.
DIGIE
Before entering the museum, there’s an impressive interactive digital wall, the Digital Information Gateway in El Paso (DIGIE). It was created in 2012 and is made up of 5 touch-sensitive screens measuring 35 feet in length. The wall is the only one of its kind in the United States and one of only four in the entire world.
Permanent Exhibition
The El Paso Museum of History contains a permanent exhibition highlighting the over 1,000 years of human history in the El Paso del Norte region. It also covers the Prehistoric period as well as the geography of the region.
Artifacts on display include a cotton gin, items from a copper converter building, period furniture, items from the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century, tools, and guns.
There’s also a wall highlighting the importance of Fort Bliss to the city. It was founded in 1849 and is the second largest military installation in the United States as well as the largest employer in the area.
Temporary Exhibitions at the El Paso Museum of History
The museum presents various temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Here are the three that were on display during our visit:
Neighborhoods and Shared Memories
The Neighborhoods and Shared Memories exhibit focused on the two oldest neighborhoods in the city: El Segundo Barrio and Chihuahuita. It displayed photographs, oral history interviews, artifacts, and more. They explored family life, leisure time, the evolution of community, work, and social status.
Made in El Paso: Cowboy Boots
This exhibition highlighted the cowboy boot making industry in El Paso. It displayed the process from design to the finished product, and how local traditions and influence have affected cowboy boots made in El Paso. There were some impressive hand-made boots, including one that featured 23.5 karat gold Art Deco-inspired tops.
Drawing on the Past
Another temporary exhibition focused on El Paso during the childhood of American artist and war correspondent Tom Lea (1907-2001). Lea was born in and died in El Paso, and most of his works were about Texas and north-central Mexico. On display were paintings, a vintage firefighting wagon, and a horse watering fountain.
El Paso Public Library
Next to the El Paso Museum of History 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.
National Border Patrol Museum
The National Border Patrol Museum is a fascinating look into the operations of the U.S. Border Patrol. It’s located on the north side of the city.
The National Border Patrol Museum was established in 1979 by a group of retired Border Patrol agents. Its first location was in the form Hotel Cortez in downtown El Paso, opening on October 1, 1985. The museum closed from 1992 to 1994 while it waited for construction on its current location, which opened in April 1994.
The National Border Patrol Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Admission is free (as of August 2025). The museum receives no federal funding and relies on donations to keep its doors open. It sits next to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, and the two can be combined in one trip to the area.
Border Patrol History Exhibit
The National Border Patrol Museum is the only one of its kind in the United States. It allows visitors to get a Border Patrol agent’s perspective on a job that’s not often portrayed in a positive light. It also covers the history of the U.S. Border Patrol, which was founded on May 28, 1924.
Although most of the museum focuses on the southern border with Mexico, a small section covers the northern border with Canada. It highlights the long cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Crossing Illegally
Vehicles used by people trying to illegally cross the border are prominently on display, including a raft used by four Cuban refugees on June 16, 1994. It was made of scrap metal, tire tubes, wood, and blue canvas.
Also featured are ladders and equipment used by smugglers and illegal aliens attempting to scale the border wall as well as footwear intended to cover the tracks of people illegally crossing the border. They include shoes and sandals fitted with wooden hooves, carpet, or sponges.
A diorama exhibits how Border Patrol agents scour the border area to find a possible breach and track down the people who crossed. Another section shows how aliens are processed and fingerprinted, with a historic fingerprinting kit. Other equipment and photos are also on display.
Border Patrol Vehicles
A large room includes vehicles used by Border Patrol agents over the years. They range from classic cars to ATVs and jeeps as well as airplanes and a helicopter. Visitors can actually climb up to the helicopter and look at the controls.
Fallen Agents
A somber section of the National Border Patrol Museum contains a memorial to agents who lost their lives in the line of duty. It highlights the dangers of the job and reminds visitors that these agents risk their lives on a daily basis. The photos sit near display cases full of seized weapons.
Newton-Azrak Memorial
Finally, there’s a section dedicated to the memories of agents Theodore Newton and George Azrak. They were kidnapped and murdered by marijuana smugglers on June 17, 1967. They were the 46th and 47th agents to die in the line of duty, and the first since 1952.
The deaths of Newton and Azrak changed the organization of checkpoints. Since then, all checkpoints have been managed by at least three agents instead of two. The Newton-Azrak Award for Heroism was named in their honor. Plaques engraved with the names of recipients are listed on the wall next to the memorial.
