City of El Paso
Flag Seal
Nickname: Star of the Southwest," "The Sun City," and "Land of the Sun
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates: 31°47′25″N 106°25′24″W / 31.79028, -106.42333
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	El Paso
Government
- Mayor	John Cook
Area
- Total	250.5 sq mi (648.8 km²)
- Land	249.08 sq mi (645.11 km²)
- Water	1.46 sq mi (3.78 km²)
Elevation	3,740 ft (1,140 m)
Population (2005)
- City	609,415
- Density	337.3/sq mi (873.7/km²)
- Metro	736,310
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
Area code(s)	915
FIPS code	48-24000GR2
GNIS feature ID	1380946GR3
Website: www.elpasotexas.gov

Map of the city in 1886

El Paso is the seat of El Paso County in the U.S. state of Texas and part of the American Southwest. According to the 2006 U.S. Census population estimates, the city had a population of 609,415^[1]. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 21st-largest city in the United States. Its metropolitan area covers all of El Paso County and has a population of 736,310.^[2]

It stands on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across the border from Ciudad Juárez. The two cities form a metropolitan area of 2,280,782^{[citation needed]}

El Paso is home to the University of Texas at El Paso (founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy and receiving university status 1967). Fort Bliss, a major United States Army installation, lies to the east and northeast of the city, extending north up to the White Sands Missile Range. The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections.

[edit] History

[edit] Pre-Columbian Era

Archeological evidence at the Keystone Wetlands and Hueco Tanks sites indicates thousands of years of human settlement within the El Paso region (see: Mogollon culture). The Manso, Suma, and Jumano Indians were identified as present by the earliest Spanish explorers. These people ultimately became assimilated into the local settler population, becoming part of the Mestizo culture that is prevalent in Mexico and is visible throughout the Southwest. Others integrated themselves with the different Mescalero Apache bands that for many years roamed the region.

[edit] Arrival of Spaniards

Downtown El Paso in 1908.

El Paso del Norte (the present day Ciudad Juárez), was founded on the south bank of the Río Bravo del Norte, (Rio Grande) in 1659 by Spanish conquistadors. Being a grassland then, agriculture flourished and vineyards and fruits constituted the bulk of the regional production. The Spanish Crown and the local authorities of El Paso del Norte had made several land concessions to bring agricultural production to the northern bank of the river in present day El Paso. However, the Apaches dissuaded production and settlers to cross the river. The water provided a natural defense against them.

In 1680, after the successful Pueblo Revolt that decimated the Spanish colonies in northern New Mexico, El Paso became the base for Spanish governance of the territory of New Mexico. From El Paso, the Spaniards led by Diego de Vargas, grouped once again to recolonize the precious Spanish territory that was centered in Santa Fe and stretched from Socorro (New Mexico) to the areas that included Taos.

The first successful agricultural enterprise that we have records on was Ponce de León Ranch. The land was granted in 1825.

[edit] Mexican Independence

El Paso, the most important settlement along the Rio Grande, was the southernmost locality of the Provincia de Nuevo Mexico, modern New Mexico and it was communicated with Santa Fe and Mexico City by the Royal Road. Few foreign travelers, outside Spanish merchants and officials, ventured that far north. It took six months for a trading caravan to reach Mexico City. Although American spies, traders and fur trappers had visited the area since 1804, notably Zebulon Pike, American settlers only began to stay for good, in significant numbers, after the Mexican-American War in 1849^[3].

Although there weren't any combats in the region during the Mexican Independence, Paso del Norte experienced the negative effects it had on the trade of its wines and produce that kept the town alive. It also experienced a major avulsion that left the towns of Ysleta, San Elizario and Socorro on the other side of the Rio Grande^[4].

In the first Mexican constitution (1824), given the dominance that chihuahuan merchants had on New Mexico, Paso del Norte went to the State of Chihuahua after being part of New Mexico for 200 years. The town elected its first local government in 1825 and opened the first official school in 1829 ^[5].

The Texas revolution (1836) was not felt in the region. The area was never considered part of Texas until 1848. Given the blurry reclamations of the Texas Republic that wanted a chunk of the Santa Fe trade, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo effectively made the settlements on the north bank of the river a formal American settlement, separate from Old El Paso de Norte on the Mexican Side^[6].

The Post Opposite to El Paso (the first name of El Paso) began with five tiny settlements: Coon's Ranch, Hart's Mill, Concordia, Frontera and Ponce's rach. They later grew to become the city we know^[7].

[edit] The Confederate States of America

During the Civil War, Texas, along with most other Southern states, seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America in 1861. It was also during the war between the states that El Paso and its military outposts were important in protecting the Confederacy's claim to the territory of New Mexico. The Confederate cause was met with great support from El Paso residents. After the war was concluded, the town's population began to grow.

[edit] Real Wild West

With the arrival of the Southern Pacific, Texas and Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads in 1881, the population boomed to 10,000 by 1890 census. With a tempting green valley and a nearly perfect climate year-around, the town attracted a constant stream of newcomers: gamblers, gunfighters, thieves, cattle and horse rustlers, murderers, priests, Chinese railroad laborers, prostitutes, and entrepreneurs.

During the Wild West era, according to "The Portable Handbook of Texas", El Paso was dubbed as the "Six Shooter Capital" due to its great remoteness and lawlessness. El Paso hired a town marshal with rough reputation, Dallas Stoudenmire, who was known to shoot first and ask questions later. The "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight" took place here on April 14, 1881. This was prior to the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Stoudenmire, the sixth marshal in eight months, was hired to "clean" and civilize a remote, violent and wild town. Stoudenmire was an effective marshal; he instilled fears by terror to control the City Council. With his fierce reputation and dexterity with his pistols, he intimidated a violence-hardened town. On May 28, 1882, the City Council announced they were firing the marshal. When Stoudenmire learned of this, he entered the Council Chambers. Upon seeing Stoudenmire, the council members remained quiet and became terrified. Stoudenmire strolled up and down the chamber as he scolded, cussed profanities and threatened to shoot. In a blink of eyes, he pulled out and twirled his pistols as he growled, "I can straddle every God-damn aldermen on this council!" Council members quickly voted unanimously to retain Stoudenmire as their town marshal. Stoudenmire glared at them for a few seconds before he calmed down and put away his pistols. Knowing Stoudenmire's fearsome reputation, the Mayor defused a tense situation when he called for an abrupt adjournment. Stoudenmire exited the Chamber. A potential fatal incident was averted.

In 1883 the county seat was moved from Ysleta, Texas to El Paso. This was decided in a strongly disputed election in which counted votes were nearly three times the number of voters. Before Ysleta, San Elizario, Texas was county seat, and lost the seat after the 1877 San Elizario Salt War with a company of Texas Rangers.

Prostitution and gambling flourished until World War I, when the Department of the Army pressured El Paso authorities to crack down on vice. Many of these activities continued in neighboring Ciudad Juárez, especially during the Prohibition, which benefitted bars and saloons on the Mexican side of the border.

Anson Mills Building

[edit] The Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) began in 1910, and Ciudad Juárez was the focus of intense fighting. Occasionally, stray shots killed civilians on the El Paso side. El Paso became a center of intrigue as various exiled leaders including Victoriano Huerta and (for a time) Pancho Villa were seen in the city. In January 1914, General John Joseph Pershing was stationed at Fort Bliss, where he was responsible for security along the border and mounted the ill fated Pancho Villa Expedition against Pancho Villa after the infamous raid on Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916. The cavalry under Pershing were paid in gold, in competition with Pancho Villa, who offered $50 per machine gun. (When World War I began, Pershing's cavalry had to remain in the Army for the duration of the war, and were no longer paid in gold.)

[edit] The Roaring 20s to World War II

The Plaza Hotel

Beginning in the 1920s and into the 1930s, El Paso became the birthplace of several locally and nationally well-known businesses and events. In 1930, Conrad Hilton opened his first highrise hotel in El Paso, the now Plaza Hotel. The Plaza Theatre opened on September 12, 1930.

In 1934, Walter Varney and Louis Mueller established the passenger airline called Varney Speed Lines in El Paso and operated out of the old El Paso Municipal Airport (1934–36) and then the El Paso International Airport. After the airline was taken over in 1937 by Robert Six, he relocated its headquarters to Denver, Colorado and renamed it with the more recognized name of Continental Airlines, as it is known to this day.^[8] Although Continental Airlines would have its headquarters stationed in Denver, El Paso was still a major hub for the airline up until the late 1980s.

The college football Sun Bowl has been held in El Paso since 1936.

[edit] Post-War Era

After World War II, Wernher von Braun and other German rocket scientists were brought to Fort Bliss in El Paso, along with many of the V2 rockets and rocket parts, starting the American rocket program; they were later moved to Huntsville, Alabama. One V2 rocket is still on display at Fort Bliss. The popular drink, the Margarita, was another famous invention given a home in El Paso. It was first mixed in the El Paso-Juárez area at Tommy's Place Bar on July 4, 1945 by Francisco "Pancho" Morales. Morales originally left bartending in Mexico to become a US citizen. He is listed in the Texas Almanac's Sesquicentennial Edition (1857-2007, under M) Obituaries of famous Texans. His story is best captured in a October 1973 Texas Monthly article "The Man Who Invented the Margarita" by Brad Cooper, and later in his obituary in the Washington Post on January 2,1997.

From World War II until the 1980s, El Paso boomed into a sprawling city. The expansion of Fort Bliss from a frontier post to a major Cold War military center brought in thousands of soldiers, dependents, and retirees. The industrial economy was dominated by copper smelting, oil refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries (particularly garment making), which drew thousands of Mexican immigrants. New housing subdivisions were built, expanding El Paso far to the west, northeast and east of its original core areas.

With the election of Raymond Telles^[9], the city's first Hispanic mayor in 1957, the demand for civil rights amongst the Hispanic population began. Stretching into the tumultuous 1960s, and converging with America's anti-war and civil rights demonstrations, great strides were achieved that became evident in the 1970s.

In 1963, the U.S. agreed to cede a long-disputed part of El Paso to Mexico due to changes in the course of the Rio Grande, which forms the international boundary between the two countries. The area boundaries were rationalized and the Rio Grande was re-channelled. A former island in the river was re-developed. The Chamizal National Memorial, administered by the National Park Service is now a major park in El Paso; El Chamizal is the corresponding park in Juárez.

Since 1990, the local economy has been adversely affected by competition with low wage labor abroad, and the closure of the main copper smelter due to fluctuant metal prices, and excessive lead contamination found throughout many of the surrounding areas. The implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 affected the local economy, with transport, retail, and service firms expanding, and the accelerated loss of many industrial jobs. El Paso is sensitive to changes in the Mexican economy and the regulation of cross border traffic; the Mexican peso devaluation of late 1994 and increasingly stringent controls of cross border traffic after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack were felt strongly in El Paso. (In contrast to most every other border city and popular belief, the commercial traffic at the ports of entry went un-interrupted during the immediate aftermath of 9/11.)

Since the 1849 establishment of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area, El Paso has seen many booms in population. More recently, the BRAC commission has marked the base to receive more the 18,000 troops, which is estimated to add 547 million dollars to the El Paso economy. The expected 50,000 people destined for El Paso (18,000 troops & 30, 000 family members) will bring to El Paso a rise in population that has not been seen since the Mexican Exodus of the 1910s in which the town's population grew by at least 60,000 people that were trying to escape the carnage of the Mexican Revolution.

Recent city-wide projects funded through the election of bonds have once again pushed the urban sprawl onward for El Paso. The most prominent of these projects was the complete refurbishment of the Plaza Theatre in Downtown El Paso. The project was completed on March 17, 2006 at a cost of $38 Million. The completion of a new freeway on the city's eastern edge the city should experience the historical urban sprawl that accompanies such freeway construction. With the arrival of military personnel and expansion of Biggs Army Airfield, the city is also constructing a new "Inner Loop" (Loop 375 to Fred Wilson Avenue) that will connect the eastern section of the city to the Army Airfield. Once completed, Biggs Army Airfield is expected to be larger than the current space at Fort Bliss.

Also of concern is how the large increases of population in Cd. Juárez will affect El Paso. Historically, these two towns have always been interconnected. Already evident is the air quality and traffic flowing inside the El Paso area, for these respsective figures reflect the values of a metro area that is populated by at least two-million people. Many underestimate the area's infrastructure needs by allocating resource values for only the El Paso population and not the metropolitan population that is interconnected chiefly through the actions of commerce that stems from El Paso, Cd. Juárez, and the New Mexico cities of Las Cruces, Santa Teresa, Sunland Park and Alamogordo.

[edit] Geography

A panoramic view of El Paso, Texas from the north. The Hueco Mountains can be seen toward the east, the Juarez mountains of Mexico can be seen to the south (far right of the image).

El Paso Skyline as seen from Scenic Drive

Central El Paso as seen from Scenic Drive.

El Paso (top) and Ciudad Juárez (bottom) as seen from earth orbit; the Rio Grande River is the thin line separating the two cities through the middle of the photograph. A portion of the Franklin Mountains can be seen in the upper-left. Image courtesy of NASA.

El Paso is located at 31°47′25″N, 106°25′24″W (31.790208, -106.423242)^GR1. It lies at the intersection of three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua) and two countries (the USA and Mexico). It is the only major Texas city on Mountain Time. When Ciudad Juárez was on Central Time^{[citation needed]}, it was possible to celebrate New Year's twice in the same evening by travelling a very short distance across the state and into another country. Both cities are now on Mountain Time.

The city's elevation is 3,800 feet (1140 m) above sea level. The rustic North Franklin Peak towers at 7,192 feet above sea level and is the highest peak in the city. The peak can be seen from 60 miles in all directions. Additionally, this mountain range is home to the famous natural red-clay formation, the Thunderbird, from which the local Coronado High School gets its mascot's name. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 648.9 km² (250.5 mi²).

The 24,000-acre Franklin Mountains State Park is the largest urban park in the United States and resides entirely in El Paso, extending from the north and neatly dividing the city into several sections along with Fort Bliss and the El Paso International Airport.

The Rio Grande Rift, which passes around the southern end of the Franklin Mountains, is where the Rio Grande River flows. The river defines the border between El Paso from Ciudad Juárez to the south and west until the river turns north of the border with Mexico, separating El Paso from Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Mt. Cristo Rey, a volcanic peak (an example of a pluton) rises within the Rio Grande Rift just to the west of El Paso on the New Mexico side of the Rio Grande River. Other volcanic features include Kilbourne hole and Hunt's hole, which are Maar volcanic craters 30 miles (50 km) west of the Franklin Mountains.

El Paso is surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert, the easternmost section of the Basin and Range Region.

[edit] Areas of El Paso

• Central El Paso
• Coronado Hills
• East El Paso
• Franklin Mountains State Park
• Kern Place
• Mission Valley El Paso (Lower Valley and Ysleta, TX)
• Northwest El Paso (Upper Valley, to include the Willows)
• Sunset Heights
• Tierra Del Este
• Northeast El Paso
• Tigua of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation

With the city limits are traditional suburban areas that are located on the far eastern and western edges.

[edit] Texas suburbs outside the city

• Anthony
• Canutillo
• Clint
• Fabens
• Homestead Meadows
• Horizon City
• Montana Vista
• San Elizario
• Socorro
• Sparks
• Tornillo
• Westway

[edit] New Mexico suburbs

Although New Mexican areas of Anthony, Sunland Park, and Chaparral lie adjacent to El Paso County, they are considered to be part of the Las Cruces, New Mexico metropolitan area by the United States Census Bureau [1].

• Anthony
• Sunland Park
• Chaparral

Although these New Mexican areas lie adjacent to El Paso County, they are considered to be part of the Las Cruces, New Mexico metropolitan area by the United States Census Bureau [2].

[edit] Climate

Snow on Franklin Mountain, El Paso, a rare scene in desert

• El Paso has a semi-arid, warm steppe climate (Koppen climate classification BSh) with very hot summers (with little or no humidity) and mild, dry winters.

• Temperatures range from an average high of 55 F (13 °C) and an average low of 28 °F (−2 °C) in January to an average high of 97 °F (36 °C ) and an average low of 68 °F (20 °C) in August.

• The city's record high is 114 °F (45.5 °C), and its record low is −8 °F (−22 °C).

• The sun shines 302 days per year on average in El Paso, 83 percent of daylight hours, according to the El Paso Weather Bureau. It is from this that the city is nicknamed, The Sun City. The natives find the weather attractive though temperatures can reach 100+ degrees F.

• Rainfall averages 8.74 inches (223 mm) per annum, most of which occurs during the summer from July through September and is predominantly caused by monsoonal flow from the Gulf of California. During this period, winds originate more from the south to southeast direction and carry moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico into the region. As this moisture moves into the El Paso area (and many other areas in the southwest), a combination of orographic uplift from the mountains, and daytime heating from the sun, causes thunderstorms to develop across the region. This is what causes most of the rain in the El Paso area.

[edit] Flooding

El Paso flood of 1897.

Although the average annual rainfall is only about 8 inches, many parts of El Paso are subject to occasional flooding during intense summer monsoons. In late July and early August 2006, over 15 inches of rain fell in a week, overflowing all the flood-control reservoirs and causing major flooding city-wide. The city staff has estimated damage to public infrastructure as $21 million, and to private property (residential & commercial) as $77 million [3]. Much of the damage was associated with development in recent decades in arroyos protected by flood-control dams and reservoirs, and the absence of any storm drain ultility in the city to handle the flow of rain water.

[edit] Maps

Coordinates: 31.7902° N 106.4232° W

[edit] Temperature statistics

The O. T. Bassett Tower

[edit] Architecture

10 Tallest Buildings in El Paso

[edit] Politics

El Paso City and County vote overwhelmingly Democratic, like most of the Texas–Mexico border area and urban Texas.^[10] The El Paso metropolitan area is represented by Silvestre Reyes (D-El Paso) and Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) in the U.S. House; in the Texas State House by Democrats Paul Moreno, Chente Quintanilla, Norma Chavez, Joe Pickett and Republican Pat Haggerty; and in the State Senate, by Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso). The El Paso County Judge is Anthony Cobos (Democrat). The mayor of El Paso is John Cook. On December 1, 2006, Reyes was tapped by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for the 110th Congress which convened in January 2007.

[edit] Government

The current mayor of El Paso is John Cook he defeated former El Paso mayor Joe Wardy in the 2005 city elections. By City charter, approved on February 7th, 2004, the City of El Paso operates under a council-manager form of government. This system combines the strong political leadership of elected officials, in the form eight Council Members, with the strong managerial experience of an appointed local government manager. All power is concentrated in the elected council, which hires a professionally trained manager to carry out its directives and oversee the delivery of public services. Joyce Wilson was elected by the city council in 2004 has El Paso's first City Manager. The council members are elected every 4 years.

[edit] Business

El Paso is the Operational Headquarters of Helen of Troy Limited, a NASDAQ listed company that manufactures personal health care products under many labels such as OXO, Dr. Scholls, Vidal Sassoon, Sunbeam, among others. Also headquartered in El Paso is Western Refinery, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

El Paso is also the corporate headquarters to Spira Footwear, and the World Headquarters to the El Paso Saddle blanket Co.

Until 1996, El Paso was home to El Paso Natural Gas Company. Now in Houston, Texas under the name El Paso Corporation.Farah Clothing Company was also headquartered in El Paso until 1998 when Farah along with other clothing manufacturing companies such as Levi's, moved their plants in search of cheaper labor. In the 80's El Paso was known has the blue jeans capital of the world because it produced over 2 million pairs of jeans every week from different jean companies in El Paso. As of 2006, the only remaining companies in the clothing industry are Wrangler and a smaller company by the name of Boarder Apparel.

More than 70 Fortune 500 companies call El Paso their home, including Hoover, Eureka, Boeing, and Delphi (auto parts).

El Paso is an important entry point to the U.S. from Mexico. Once a major copper refining area, chief manufacturing industries in El Paso now include food production, clothing, construction materials, electronic and medical equipment, and plastics. Cotton, fruit, vegetables, livestock, and pecans are produced in the area. With El Paso's attractive climate and natural beauty, tourism has become a booming industry as well as trade with neighboring Ciudad Juárez.

Education is also a driving force in El Paso's economy. El Paso's three large school districts are among the largest employers in the area, employing more than 19,000 people between them. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has an annual budget of nearly $250 million and employs nearly 3,600 people. A 2002 study by the university's Institute for Policy and Economic Development stated that the University's impact on local businesses has resulted in $349 million.

The military installation of Fort Bliss is a major contributor to El Paso's economy. Fort Bliss began as a Calvary post in 1848. Today, Fort Bliss is the site of the United States Army's Air Defense Center and produces approximately $80 million in products and services annually, with about $60 million of those products and services purchased locally. Fort Bliss' total economic impact on the area has been estimated at more than $1 billion, with 12,000 soldiers currently stationed at the Fort. A February 2005 article in the El Paso Times stated that as many as 20,000 troops could be arriving at Fort Bliss pending the Defense Department's removal of thousands of troops from overseas assignments. This would be in addition to 3,800 soldiers who would arrive as part of a new brigade combat team stationed at the Fort. The growth is expected to create a strong economic ripple throughout the El Paso area.

In addition to the military, the federal government has a strong presence in El Paso to manage its status and unique issues as a border region. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the U.S. Customs Service all have agency operations in El Paso to regulate traffic and goods through ports of entry from Mexico. Including these agencies, government job growth in the area is expected to rise to 64,390 jobs by 2007.

Call center operations make up 7 of the top 10 business employers in El Paso. With no signs of growth slowing in this industry, in 2005 the 14 largest call centers in El Paso employed more than 10,000 people. The largest of these in terms of employees are EchoStar, MCI/GC Services, and West Telemarketing.

Analysts in the area say that job growth in 2005 will be in the form of health care, business and trade services, international trade, and telecommunications.

Items and goods produced: petroleum, metals, medical devices, plastics, machinery, automotive parts, food, defense-related goods, tourism, boots

[edit] Largest city employers

• El Paso Independent School District 8,663
• Fort Bliss (civilian employees) 6,803
• Ysleta Independent School District 6,500
• City of El Paso 6,264
• University of Texas at El Paso 4,871
• Socorro Independent School District 3,995
• Sierra Providence Health Network 3,761
• El Paso Community College 3,728
• Wal-Mart 3,706
• County of El Paso 2,700
• Las Palmas and Del Sol Regional Health Care System 2,244
• Echostar 2,012

All numbers are estimates as of 2006

[edit] Demographics

• Services
  Flat Fee MLS
  Buy Yard Signs
  Real Estate Forms
  Mortgages
  Climate
  Home Staging
  Fizber Widgets
  Broker/Agent Directory
• Services Search
  Moving Services
  Home Appraisers
  Home Inspectors
  Property Tax
  Title and Escrow
  Title Search
• Information
  Drive Score
  Advertising on Fizber
  Site Demographics
  Partner With Us
  Videographers
  Contact Us
  Information for MLSs
• FSBO Help Center
  FAQ
  FSBO Guide
  Perfect Listing
  FSBO Blog
  Fizber Social Network
  Glossary
  Ad Writing Tips
  
• Neighborhood Info
  City Profiles
  City Comparisons
  School Profiles
  Crime Comparisons
  Salary Calculator
  Cost of Living
  City Climate