Montgomery Building (El Paso, Texas)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Montgomery Building is the last surviving false-front structure and the oldest existing business building in the City of El Paso, Texas.
The Montgomery Building was built as the American El Paso, as opposed to a Mexican El Paso, underwent a great transformation from a dusty adobe village to a thriving city following the arrival of the railroad on May 13, 1881. The Southern Pacific Railroad had just arrived in El Paso and two other railroads were approaching the outskirts of the county. A great commercial building boom followed as lumber and brick structures, some two stories high, began replacing adobe ones. El Paso Street became a bustling center of commerce running from San Jacinto Plaza on San Francisco Street to the ferry landing at the Rio Grande.[1]
In 1882, just months after the Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, William J. Montgomery (1833–1899) built this structure on a vacant lot between two buildings that were situated North and South of the property. Montgomery made use of the two buildings' existing walls, constructing only a roof, floor, front wall and back wall. He ran a new wall down the middle, creating two new addresses, 216 and 218 El Paso Street.[2]
The building was typical of western frontier architecture of the late 19th century. It featured a false front to make it appear taller and more like commercial buildings found in the East. Originally, the building housed a drug store and a book store.
