Timeline of El Paso, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of El Paso, Texas.
Prior to 20th century
- 1598 The first Thanksgiving in North America celebrated by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate and his expedition on April 30, 1598.
- 1682 – Ysleta Mission established.[1]
- 1827 - Juan María Ponce de León is given a land grant for what is now downtown El Paso.
- 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed, effectively making the settlements on the north bank of the river part of the US
- 1849 – U.S. military Fort Bliss established.[1]
- 1850
- Compromise of 1850 places El Paso in the state of Texas instead of New Mexico
- El Paso County created, which originally extended north to what is now Garfield, New Mexico, and extending all the way to the Pecos River[2]
- 1852 - a US post office was established bearing the name "El Paso"
- 1859 - Anson Mills surveys and lays out a town on Ponce's Rancho and names it El Paso, the layout of Downtown El Paso still follows this original plan
- 1861-1862 - Fort Bliss under control of Confederate Army
- 1873 – El Paso incorporated, Benjamin Shacklett Dowell elected as first mayor[3]
- 1877-1878 - San Elizario Salt War
- 1877 - the Ninth Cavalry Regiment, part of what was known as the Buffalo Soldiers, arrives at Fort Bliss in response to the San Elizario Salt War
- 1881
- Southern Pacific Railroad, Texas and Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads begin operating.[1][4]
- El Paso Times, El Paso Herald, and The Lone Star newspapers begin publication.[5]
- 1882 – Avenida Lerdo–Stanton Street Bridge[6] and Montgomery Building constructed.
- 1883 – First National Bank built.[7]
- 1884
- El Paso County seat relocated to El Paso from Ysleta.[4]
- El Paso Browns baseball team formed.[8]
- 1888 - El Paso del Norte renamed "Juárez" in honor of Benito Juárez.[1] leaving El Paso, Texas the sole El Paso.
- 1889 – McGinty Club active.[9]
- 1890 – Population: 10,338.
- 1892 – Santa Fe Street bridge built.[6]
- 1895 – El Paso Public Library founded.[10]
- 1898 - Zion Lutheran Church is established. It is the first Lutheran Church in El Paso.
- 1899 – American Smelting and Refining Company plant in operation.[11]
- 1900 – White House Department Store in business.[12]
20th century
1900s–1940s
- 1901 – El Paso Electric Company formed.[13]
- 1902
- 1904 - Carnegie Library opens.[15]
- 1906 – Union Depot opens.
- 1910 – Population: 39,279.
- 1911 – Anson Mills Building constructed.[7]
- 1912 – Hotel Paso del Norte in business.[7]
- 1913 – Several hundred workers at the American Smelting and Refining Company's plant go on strike.
- 1914
- Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso established.[16]
- Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy opens.[17]
- 1916 - El Paso High School opens
- 1917
- Bath Riots occurred to protest new U.S. immigration/entry requirements for Mexican's crossing the border.[18]
- Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick dedicated.
- 1919 – June 15–16: Battle of Ciudad Juárez occurs near El Paso.[9]
- 1920 – Population: 77,560.[19]
- 1921 – Ku Klux Klan active.[9]
- 1922 – El Paso Post newspaper begins publication.[5]
- 1924 – United States Border Patrol begins operating.
- 1925 – Cathedral High School established.
- 1926 – Orndorff Hotel built.[9]
- 1928 – El Paso Municipal Airport built.[9]
- 1929 - KTSM and WDAH radio begin broadcasting.[20]
- 1930
- Bassett Tower built.
- Plaza Theatre and El Paso Zoo[21] open.
- Austin High School opens.
- Hilton Hotel in business.[7]
- Population: 102,421.[19]
- 1933 – Junior League of El Paso founded.
- 1935
- 1936 – United States Court House built.[3]
- 1937
- 1938 – El Paso Ysleta Port of Entry established.
- 1939 – Fort Bliss National Cemetery established near city.
- 1940
- El Paso Star built.
- Population: 96,810 city;[19] 131,067 county.
- 1942
- Biggs Air Force Base begins operating near Fort Bliss.
- Ysleta–Zaragoza Bridge rebuilt.[6]
- El Paso County Coliseum opens.
- 1945 - Household Furniture Opens
- 1946 – El Paso Drive-in cinema opens.[23]
- 1948 – First city flag adopted.
- 1949 – Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy becomes Texas Western College
1950s–1990s
- 1950
- Bronco Drive-In cinema opens.[24]
- Population: 130,485.[19]
- 1952
- KROD-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[25]
- Town of Anthony incorporated near El Paso.
- 1953 - KTSM-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[25]
- 1954 – El Paso County Historical Society founded.[26]
- 1957- First Hispanic Mayor (Raymond Telles) is elected
- 1959
- El Paso Museum of Art founded.
- Sunland Park Racetrack opens in nearby Sunland Park, New Mexico.
- 1960
- El Paso Aerial Tramway begins operating.
- Northgate Mall opens with "acres of parking"[27]
- Population: 276,687.[19]
- 1961 – Village of Vinton incorporated near El Paso.
- 1962
- Bassett Place shopping mall in business.[8]
- Chase Tower built.
- New city flag adopted.
- 1963 – Sun Bowl opens.
- 1965
- 1967
- Cordova Bridge built.[6]
- Texas Western College becomes University of Texas at El Paso.
- El Paso BOTA Port of Entry built per Chamizal treaty.
- 1969 – San Jacinto Plaza remodelled.[7]
- 1970 – Population: 322,261.[19]
- 1971
- El Paso Genealogical Society founded.[29]
- Wells Fargo Plaza hi-rise built.
- 1972
- September: Raza Unida Party convention held in El Paso.[30]
- El Paso Community College established.
- 1973 – Biggs Air Force Base becomes Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss.
- 1974
- Civic Center opens.[31]
- Cielo Vista Mall, first enclosed air-conditioned shopping center, opens.[27]
- Chamizal National Memorial established.
- 1977 – El Paso Museum of Archaeology established.
- 1980
- Mujer Obrera (labor group) established.[32]
- Population: 425,259 city;[19] 479,899 county.
- 1981
- Foreign trade zone established.[33][34]
- "Sandra Day O'Connor, a native of El Paso, becomes the first woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice."[35]
- 1982 - Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care begins operations, originally named "Centro Cristiano de Ysleta"
- 1983 – Kayser Building constructed.
- 1987
- Franklin Mountains State Park opens.
- Sun Metro Mass Transit System active.
- 1988
- Sunland Park Mall in business.
- Horizon City incorporated near El Paso.
- 1989 – El Paso Patriots soccer team formed.
- 1990 – Population: 515,342 city;[19] 591,610 county.
- 1997 – Silvestre Reyes becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 16th congressional district.[36][relevant?]
- 1998 – City website online (approximate date).[37][chronology citation needed]
- 1999 – Chihuahuan Desert Gardens established.[38]
- 2000 – Population: 563,662 city; 679,622 county.
21st century
- 2003
- 2004 – International news media reports on ongoing female homicides in Juarez City area.[40]
- 2005 - El Diario de El Paso Spanish-language newspaper begins publication.
- 2006
- Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso established.
- Major flooding from up to 10 inches of rain in one week.[41]
- 2007
- El Paso Marathon begins.
- El Paso Skatepark Association formed.[39]
- El Paso Star remodeled.
- 2008 – Borderzine website launched.[42]
- 2010
- 2011 – Worst drought in a decade.[45]
- 2013
- ASARCO smokestacks demolished.
- City Hall demolished to make room for Southwest University Park baseball stadium.[46]
- 2019 - A terrorist mass shooting at a Walmart kills 23 people and injures 22 others.[47][48]
See also
- History of El Paso, Texas
- List of mayors of El Paso, Texas
- History of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
- Timeline of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
- National Register of Historic Places listings in El Paso County, Texas
- Timelines of other cities in the West Texas area of Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland
