Downtown El Paso as seen from I-10
West.
El
Paso is a city in and the county
seat of El Paso
County, Texas
, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to
the
United States Census
Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population
of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the
22nd-largest city
in the United States. Its
metropolitan area covers all of El
Paso County. The metropolitan area has a population of
736,310.
El Paso
stands on the Rio Grande
, across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua,
Mexico
. The image to the right shows Downtown El
Paso and Juárez, with the Juárez Mountains in the background. The
two cities form a combined International Area with Juarez being the
significantly larger of the two. Together they have a combined
population of 2,049,648, with Juárez accounting for 2/3 of the
population.
El Paso is
home to the University of Texas at El Paso
(founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines
and Metallurgy). Fort
Bliss
, a major United
States Army installation, lies to the east and northeast of the
city, with training areas extending north into New Mexico, 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,
with downtown connecting the two sections at the south end of the
mountain range.
History
The El Paso region has had human settlement for thousands of years.
The earliest known cultures in the region were
maize farmers. At the time of the arrival of the
Spanish the
Manso,
Suma, and Jumano
tribes populated the area and today form the basis of the
Mestizo culture in the area. The
Mescalero Apache roamed the region as
well.
Spanish
explorer Don Juan de Oñate
was the first European explorer to arrive at the Rio Grande near El Paso in 1598. 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. In 1680
El Paso became the base for Spanish governance of the territory of
New Mexico.
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 settlement and development across 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 to recolonize the
Spanish territory centered around Santa Fe
stretching from Socorro to Taos
.
El Paso
became the southernmost locality of the Provincia de Nuevo Mexico
(modern New
Mexico
). It communicated with Santa Fe and Mexico
City by the Royal Road. American spies, traders and fur trappers
visited the area since 1804 and some intermarried with the area's
Hispanic elite. Although there was no combat in the region during
the Mexican Independence, Paso del Norte experienced the negative
effects it had on its wine trade.
The
Texas Revolution (1836) was not
felt in the region as 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. The present Texas-New Mexico boundary
placing El Paso on the Texas side was drawn in the
Compromise of 1850.
Downtown El Paso in 1908.
El Paso
County was established in March 1850, with San
Elizario
as the first county seat. The United States
Senate fixed a boundary between Texas and New Mexico at the
thirty-second parallel, thus largely ignoring history and
topography. A military post called
The Post opposite El
Paso (meaning opposite El Paso del Norte, across the Rio
Grande) was established in 1854. Further west, a settlement on
Coons' Rancho called Franklin became the nucleus of the future El
Paso, Texas. A year later pioneer
Anson
Mills completed his plan of the town, calling it El Paso.
During the
Civil War, the
Confederate cause was met with great support from Franklin
residents until the city's capture by the Union
California Column in 1862. It was then
headquarters for the
5th Regiment
California Volunteer Infantry until December 1864.
After the war was concluded, the town's population began to grow.
El Paso was incorporated in 1873 and encompassed the small area
communities that had developed along the river. 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 the
1890 census attracting newcomers ranging from businessmen and
priests, to gunfighters and prostitutes. El
Paso became a
boomtown known as the "Six
Shooter Capital" because of its lawlessness.
Prostitution and
gambling flourished until World War I, when the
Department of the Army
pressured El Paso authorities to crack down on vice (thus
benefitting vice in neighborhing Ciudad Juárez.
Mining and other industries gradually developed in the area. The
1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of major business development in
the city partially enabled by
Prohibition era bootlegging. The
Depression era hit the city hard and
population declined through the end of World War II. Following the
war, military expansion in the area as well as oil discoveries in
the
Permian Basin
helped to cause rapid economic expansion in the mid 1900s.
Copper smelting,
oil
refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries
(particularly garment making) led the city's growth. The expansion
slowed again in the 1960s but the city has continued to grow in
large part because of the increased importance of trade with
Mexico.
Geography
El Paso Skyline as seen from Scenic
Drive
El Paso is located at (31.790208, -106.423242). 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, 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 above sea level and is the highest peak
in the city. The peak can be seen from 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 250.5 square miles
(648.9 km²).
The
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.
Areas of El Paso
With the city limits are traditional suburban areas that are
located on the far eastern and western edges.
Texas suburbs outside the city
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.
Climate
- 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 ) in June 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+ °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
(some of which can be severe, producing flash flooding and hail).
This is what causes most of the rain in the El Paso area.
- El Paso, at elevation, is also capable of receiving snow;
weather systems have produced over a foot of snow on many
occasions. In 1980, three major snowstorms produced over a foot of
snow; one in February, another in April and the last one in
December, producing a white Christmas for the city. A major
snowstorm in December 1987 dumped nearly two feet of snow.
- Official weather records for El Paso have been kept by the
National Weather Service since 1879.
Flooding
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
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.
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 utility in the city to handle the flow of rain water.
Temperature statistics
The O.
Architecture
10 Tallest Buildings in El Paso
El Paso's tallest building, the Wells Fargo Plaza, was built in the
early-1970s as State National Plaza. The black-windowed, building
is famous for its 13 white horizonal lights (18 lights per row on
the east and west sides of the building, and 7 bulbs per row on the
north and south sides) that were lit at night. The tower did use a
design of the United States flag during the 4th of July holidays as
well as the American hostage crisis of 1980, and was lit
continuously following the
September 11 attacks in 2001 until
around 2006.
During the Christmas holidays, a design of a
Christmas tree was used, and at times, the letters "UTEP" was used
to support University of Texas at El Paso athletics. The tower is now only lit during
the holiday months, or when special events take place in the city.
With the new development downtown new highrise buildings have been
planned to bring new young professionals.
Government
City government
The city government is officially non-partisan; the county
government is not. Mayors and City Council members may not serve
for more than ten years in their respective offices.
The current mayor of El Paso is
John
Cook, who defeated Mayor
Joe Wardy in
2005 and was reelected in 2009.
The current members of the El Paso City Council, who are elected
every four years to staggered terms, are Emma Acosta, Susie Byrd,
Steve Ortega, and Carl Robinson, whose terms will end in 2013, and
Eddie Holguin, Beto O'Rourke, Ann Lilly, and Rachel Quintana, whose
terms will end in 2011. Lilly, Byrd, Ortega, Holguin, and O'Rourke
have been on the council since 2005. Quintana has been on the
council since 2007, Acosta since 2008, and Robinson since 2009. Due
to the term limits clause in the City Charter, several City Council
members will not be eligible in the next election: Byrd and Ortega,
as well as Mayor Cook.
According to city charter amendments approved on February 7, 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 of 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 selected by the city council
in 2004 as El Paso's first City Manager.
El Paso City and County vote overwhelmingly Democratic, like most
of the Texas–Mexico border area and urban Texas. The El Paso
metropolitan area is represented in the Texas State House by
Democrats
Marisa Marquez,
Chente Quintanilla,
Norma Chavez,
Joe
Pickett and
Joe Moody; and in the
State Senate, by
Eliot Shapleigh
(D-El Paso).
The El Paso County Judge is Democrat
Anthony Cobos, and the County Commissioners
are Democrats Veronica Escobar, Anna Perez, and Willie Gandara Jr.,
and Republican Dan Haggerty. Cobos and Escobar were first elected
to their positions in 2006, and have been in office since 2007.
Perez and Gandara were first elected to their positions in 2008,
and have been in office since 2009. Haggerty was first elected to
his position in 1994, and has been in office since 1995. The El
Paso County Sheriff is Democrat Richard Wiles, since 2009.
Federal representation
The El Paso metropolitan area is represented by
Silvestre Reyes (D-El Paso), chairman of the
House Intelligence
Committee, and
Ciro Rodriguez
(D-San Antonio) in the U.S. House. The current U.S. Senators for
Texas are
Kay Bailey Hutchison
(R-Texas) and
John Cornyn
(R-Texas).
Economy
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 Refining, 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 1980s El Paso was known as 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 Border Apparel.
More than 70
Fortune 500 companies have
offices in El Paso, including
The
Hoover Company,
Eureka,
Boeing, and
Delphi
.
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 Cavalry post in 1848. Today, Fort Bliss is
the site of the United States Army's
Air Defense
Artillery 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. During the 2005
round of
Base Realignment
and Closure (BRAC), Fort Bliss came out an enormous winner. By
2013, BRAC growth is expected to add almost 28,000 new troops,
16,000 new spouses, and 21,000 new children to the El Paso
community. The growth is expected to create a strong economic
ripple throughout the El Paso area. With the growth in Fort Bliss,
the economy is expected to profit an additional $10 billion by
2012, and an additional $5 billion each year after that.
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
Customs and
Border Protection Agency (CBP) 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
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
- El Paso County 2,700
- Las Palmas and Del Sol Regional Health Care System 2,244
- Echostar 2,012
All numbers are estimates as of 2006
Demographics
As of the 2005-2007
American
Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau,
White Americans made up 76.5% of El Paso's
population; of which 15.0% were non-Hispanic
whites.
Blacks or
African Americans made up 2.9% of
El Paso's population; of which 2.6% were non-Hispanic blacks.
American Indian
made up 0.5% of the city's population; of which 0.3% were
non-Hispanic.
Asian Americans made up
1.2% of the city's population.
Pacific Islander Americans made up
0.1% of the city's population; of which less than 0.1% were
non-Hispanic. Individuals from some other race made up 16.5% of the
city's population; of which 0.2% were non-Hispanic. Individuals
from
two or more races made up
2.2% of the city's population; of which 0.6% were non-Hispanic. In
addition,
Hispanics and
Latinos made up 80.2% of El Paso's population.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 563,662
people, 182,063 households, and 141,098 families residing in the
city. The
population density was
2,263.0 people per square mile (873.7/km²). There were 193,663
housing units at an average density of 777.5/sq mi
(300.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.6%
White, 3.12%
African American, 0.82%
Native American, 1.12%
Asian, 0.10%
Pacific Islander, 18.15% from
other races, and 3.40%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 86.62% of the
population.
There are 182,063 households, out of which 42.4% have children
under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples
living together, 18.5% had a female householder with no husband
present, and 22.5% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were
made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65
years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the
average family size was 3.54.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.0% under the age
of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to
64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
31 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,124, and the
median income for a family was $35,432. Males had a median income
of $28,989 versus $21,540 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$14,388. About 19.0% of families and 22.2% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 29.8%
of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
According to the 2006
United
States Census Bureau population estimates, the El Paso
metropolitan area had a population of 736,310. As of December 3,
2007, El Paso is ranked the second safest city in the US with a
population greater than 500,000.
Sports
Major League teams
El Paso does not have any
major league sports team.
El Paso hosts the annual NCAA
Brut Sun
Bowl.
El Paso is also the site of the Borderland Derby horse race held in the
nearby suburb of Sunland Park. El Paso is also host of the Texas vs. The Nation Football
Game all-star game played in the Sun Bowl Stadium
.
Sports
Arenas
- UTEP
owns the
two largest stadiums in El Paso:
- Sun Bowl Stadium has a capacity of 51,400 and is home to the
UTEP Miners football team, coached by Mike Price. It is also home to the annual
Sun Bowl, soccer games, and special events
such as concerts.
- Don Haskins Center
has a capacity of 12,222 and is used for UTEP's
basketball teams and special events such as concerts and boxing
matches. It is also where the graduation ceremony
takes place for UTEP
students.
-
- Cohen Stadium
has a capacity of 9,725 and is used primarily for
the El Paso Diablos Independent
baseball club. It also hosts concerts and boxing matches and
is able to host soccer games as well.
- El Paso County Coliseum
has a capacity of 5,250. It is currently
used primarily for special events such as concerts, wrestling
matches, and others. It can also be utilized for hockey and arena
football.
- Memorial Gym
is a 5,000 seat multi-purpose arena located on the
UTEP campus. It was home to the Miners basketball teams
until the Don Haskins
Center, then known as the Special Events Center, opened in
1976.
- Patriot Stadium
has a capacity of around 3,000 and is solely used
for the El Paso Patriots soccer
club.
Education
Public school districts
The city of El Paso is served by:
Nearby areas are served by:
Colleges and universities
Two-year and vocational colleges
Four-year colleges
Medical School
- Texas Tech University-Paul Foster School of Medicine
Private and parochial schools
There are several parochial schools within the El Paso Catholic
Diocese:
- Primary schools:
- Blessed Sacrament Catholic School
- Father Yermo Primary School
- Loretto Academy Primary School
- Most Holy Trinity Catholic School
- Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School
- Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School
- St. Joseph's Catholic School
- St. Matthew's Catholic School
- St. Patrick Cathedral School
- St. Pius X Catholic School
- St. Raphael Catholic School
- Secondary schools:
- Cathedral High School
- Father Yermo High School
- Loretto Academy
Other private schools include the following:
- Amanda Christian School
- Bethel Christian School
- Bridges Academy
- Covenant Christian Academy
- Community of Faith Christian School
- El Paso Adventist Junior Academy
- El Paso Country Day School
- El Paso Jewish Academy
- Faith Christian Academy
- Jesus Chapel Christian School
- Immanuel Christian School
- Journey Academy
- Lydia Patterson Institute
- Mount Franklin Christian Academy
- Northeast Christian Academy
- North Loop Christian Academy
- Palm Tree Academy
- Radford School
- Rose of Sharon Christian School
- St. Clement's Episcopal Parish School
- Trinity Lutheran Church and School
Ciudad Juárez residents attending schools in El Paso
Many
affluent Ciudad
Juárez residents attend schools in El Paso, including El
Paso ISD schools ("Mexican children cross border to go to school",
Houston Chronicle, April
29, 2007). Due to the number of students from Ciudad Juárez
enrolled in United States schools, the Paso Del Norte crossing
(also called "Santa Fe bridge") holds a dedicated student crossing
lane. The lane stays open from 6:30 A. M. to 8:30 A. M.
Hospitals
University Medical Center
- Del Sol Medical Center
- Las Palmas – Del Sol Rehab. Hospital
- Las Palmas Medical Center
- Horizon Specialty Hospital
- University Medical
Center- The city's general hospital and the only Level I trauma
center in the area
- Rio Vista Rehab. Hospital
- Sierra Medical Center
- Southwestern General Hospital
- William
Beaumont Army Medical Center
- Providence Memorial Hospital
- Physicians Hospital
- Highlands Regional Rehabilitation Hospital
- Sierra East medical center
Culture
Literature
El Paso has been home to literary figures such as:
The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Located within the city limits lies the autonomous Ysleta del Sur
Pueblo Nation, with its own governing body. It is one of the three
Federally-recognized Indian tribes in Texas.
The Tigua
have been at their present location since a successful Pueblo Revolt of 1680 that forced the
Spaniards and New Spaniards (future Mexicans) to retreat south to
present day Ciudad
Juárez, Chihuahua
and El Paso. The tribe is led by a governor
who serves a term of two years. The current governor is Danny
Senclare.
Very
close to tribal lands is the sacred site of Hueco Tanks
.
Points of interest
Street scene in Downtown El Paso,
Texas.
Area museums
Theaters
- The
Abraham Chavez Theatre
is located adjacent to the El Paso Convention &
Performing Arts Center, welcomes patrons with a three-story-high
glass-windowed entry and unique sombrero-shaped architecture making
it a distinct feature on El Paso's southwestern
landscape
- The
Plaza
Theatre
is a historic building located at 125 Pioneer
Plaza in El Paso, Texas. The theater stands as one of the
city's most well-known landmarks. It shows various Broadway
productions, musical concerts, and individual performers. It has a
seating capacity of 2,100.
- McKelligon Canyon is a park,
located in the Franklin Mountains, open to hikers and picnickers.
In the canyon, McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre is surrounded on
three sides by dramatic canyon walls; the 1,500-seat amphitheatre
is used for concerts and special events, such as Viva El
Paso!
The Cathedral Church of Saint Patrick
is the mother church of the Diocese of El Paso.
Sites within the city limits
Sites within the surrounding area
Other sites of interest
Transportation
El Paso
is served by El Paso International Airport, Amtrak via the historic
Union
Depot
, Interstate
10, U.S. Highway 54 (known locally as "54",
the "North-South Freeway" or officially as the Patriot Freeway),
U.S. Highway 180 and
U.S. Highway 62 (Montana Avenue),
U.S. Highway 85 (Paisano Drive),
Loop 375, Loop 478 (Copia Street-Pershing
Drive-Dyer Street), numerous Texas Farm to Market Roads (a class of
state highway commonly abbreviated to FM) and the city's original
thoroughfare,
State Highway
20, the eastern portion of which is known locally as Alameda
Avenue (formerly
U.S.
Highway 80). Texas 20 also
includes portions of Texas Avenue in Central El Paso, North Mesa
Street from Downtown to the West Side, and Doniphan Drive on the
West Side. Northeast El Paso is connected to West El Paso by
Woodrow Bean
Transmountain Drive. The city also shares 4 international
bridges and one railbridge with Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Airports
Passenger rail
Major highways
.svg/20px-I-10_(TX).svg)
Interstate 10 The primary thoroughfare
through the city, connecting the city with other major U.S. cities
such as Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix and Dallas (via
Interstate 20). The I-10 is also a connector to Interstate 25, which connects with the cities
of Albuquerque, Denver and Cheyenne.
U.S. Highway 54 Officially called the
Patriot Freeway, locally known as the North-South Freeway. A
business route runs along Dyer Street, the former US 54, from the
freeway near Fort Bliss to the Texas-New Mexico border, where it
again rejoins the expressway. The original U.S. 54 was a
transcontinental route connecting El Paso with Chicago.
U.S. Highway 62 Santa Fe Street south of
Paisano Drive concurrently with US 85, Paisano Drive east of Santa
Fe Street to Montana Avenue, then Montana Avenue concurrently with
US 180.
U.S. Highway 85 Santa Fe Street south of
Paisano Drive concurrently with US 62 and Paisano Drive west of
Santa Fe Street to I-10.
U.S. Highway 180 Montana Avenue, which
is a bypass route to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the east,
and Flagstaff,
Arizona
to the west.
SH
20 Alameda Avenue (formerly US 80), Texas Avenue, Mesa Street
and Doniphan Drive.
SH 178 Art Craft Road in Northwest
El Paso extends from Interstate 10 west to the New Mexico state
line, at which point it becomes New Mexico Highway 136, the Pete V.
Domenici International Highway.
Loop 375 Texas Highway Loop
375 encircles the city of El Paso. In Northeast El Paso, it is
Woodrow Bean Trans-Mountain Drive. In East El Paso, the north- and
southbound section is known as Joe Battle Boulevard, or simply as
"the Loop". South of I-10, in
the east and westbound portion, it is known as the Cesar Chavez
Border Highway, a four-lane expressway which is located along the
U.S.-Mexico border between Downtown El Paso and the Ysleta
area.
Loop 478: Copia Street, Pershing Drive
and Dyer Street.
Spur 601. Also known as the
Inner Loop, it is currently under construction; the operational
portion of the highway connects Biggs Army Air Field
to the Purple Heart Memorial Highway (Loop 375).
North Loop Road, as well as Delta
Drive between North Loop Road and Alameda Avenue (Texas Highway
20).
Zaragoza Road, running more or less
north from the Ysleta International Bridge to US 62-180 (Montana
Avenue); it lies mostly in East El Paso.
A portion of Clark Drive from Alameda
Avenue (Texas Highway 20) north to Trowbridge Drive in
South-Central El Paso.
McRae Boulevard, running north from
Interstate 10 to US 62-180 (Montana Avenue) in East El Paso.
Texas Farm Road 2529 includes Stan
Roberts Avenue and McCombs Street between Dyer Street and Stan
Roberts Avenue in Northeast El Paso.
Runs east from McCombs Street (Texas
Farm Road 2529) in far Northeast El Paso; does not have a city
street name.
Texas Farm Road 3255 runs north from
US 54 to the New Mexico state line in Northeast El Paso and bears
the city street name Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Mass transit
The
Sun Metro Mass Transit
System operates a system of medium to large capacity natural
gas powered buses all around the city of El Paso.
El Paso County Transit makes trips with small capacity buses mainly
in the Eastern El Paso area.
On
September 1, 2009, NMDOT Park and Ride began
operating commuter bus service to and from Las Cruces,
New Mexico.
Historically, El Paso and Ciudad Juarez had a shared
streetcar system with a peak electrified route
mileage of in 1920. The first electrified line across the Rio
Grande which opened on January 11, 1902 was preceded by a network
that relied on animal labor. The system quickly spread into
residential and industrial areas of El Paso.
In 1913 a interurban line was built to Ysleta
. At the close of 1943 holding company
El Paso Electric Company
sold its subsidiary the
El Paso Electric Railway
Company and its Mexican counterpart to one of
National City Lines' subsidiaries. This
resulted in the formation of El Paso City Lines whose domestic
streetcar lines were replaced by buses in 1947. The international
streetcar line continued to operate until 1973. In 1977 El Paso
City Lines and two other bus companies were bought by the
municipality and merged to form Sun City Area Transit (SCAT). In
1987 SCAT restyled itself Sun Metro.
International border crossings
The first bridge to cross the Rio Grande at El Paso del Norte was
built in the time of
Nueva España,
over 250 years ago, from wood hauled in from Santa Fe.
Today, three bridges serve the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez area, and
another connecting Ysleta with Ciudad Juárez.
Media
Newspapers
Radio stations
- AM
- 600 KROD News/Talk/Sports
- 630 KLEA Adult Contemporary
- 690 KTSM News/Talk
- 750
KAMA
Spanish
- 800
XEROK
Mexican
- 920
KQBU
- 1000 XEFV Spanish
- 1060 KXPL Spanish
- 1150 KHRO Talk/Oldies
- 1340 KVIV Spanish
- 1380
KHEY
Sports
- 1590
KELP
Christian
oriented
- 1650 KSVE Spanish
El Paso
also shares radio stations with nearby cities Las
Cruces, New Mexico and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
.
Television
El Paso was the largest city in the United States without a PBS
television station within the city limits until 1978. El Paso
viewers had to watch channel 22, KRWG from Las Cruces until 1978.
In fact,
the city had only three English-speaking channels and two Spanish
language channels (channel 2 and channel 5) from Juarez, and cable
subscribers in the 1970s and 1980s could receive four Los Angeles
independent channels: KTLA
, KHJ
, KTTV
and
KCOP
. Over time, as more television stations
signed on and more cable channels were added (and the internet
expanded), the L.A. stations would disappear from the lineup.
The last
to be removed was KTLA in the Fall of 2006, when KVIA-TV
opened its own CW
station.
El Paso's current television stations are as shown in the table
below:
Popular culture
- Eddie Guerrero pro-wrestler with
the WWE who was WWE champion and a member of the
WWE Hall of Fame. Eddie was born in
El Paso and attended Jefferson High School. Eddie also named one of
his finishing moves "The Lasso from El Paso".
- Vikki Carr, international singer and
entertainer ("It Must Be Him", "Total", "Cosas del amor") was born
in El Paso on [[July 19, 1941.
- Debbie Reynolds, singer/actress
was born in El Paso on [[April 1, 1932.
- "El Paso" by Marty Robbins was a popular Country ballad
released in 1959.
- Juan Gabriel started his singing
career by singing for passengers on the electric trollies that
connected El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
- Fleetwood Mac held their first
concert that featured Stevie Nicks and
Lindsey Buckingham in El Paso in
1975. Stevie Nicks attended Loretto
Academy in El Paso as a teenager.
- In the 1975 movie, The
Stepford Wives the fluoride content in El Paso's drinking
water is mentioned as a possible method the women of Stepford are
being "brainwashed."
- In the movie Kill Bill the
Massacre at Two Pines in which Beatrix
Kiddo was put into a coma and her whole wedding party
slaughtered took place in a small chapel just outside El Paso.
- The current Blue
Beetle comic book series takes place in El Paso.
- Radio La Chusma's song, Cruisin' describes the city's
streets in their pachuco style sound
that is heard internationally.
- El Paso has become a favored destination for musicians of all
stripes. See Vanity Fair's
March 2009 article.
- In one of the opening scenes in Call
of Juarez, Ray mentions El Paso.
- In Ghost Recon
Advanced Warfighter 2, the penultimate mission is set in El
Paso.
- The Chinga Chavin song "Asshole
From El Paso", most famously recorded by Kinky Friedman, which was a parody of
Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee", mentions El Paso in
both the lyrics and the title.
Filmed in El Paso
- The Burning Plain
(2009) starring Charlize Theron.
Scene shot on 2nd floor at Southwest General Hospital.
- Stephen Fry In
America (2008) documentary
- No Country For Old
Men (2007) starring Tommy Lee
Jones and Javier Bardem.
Destination El Paso, Texas.
- Glory Road (2006)
starring Josh Lucas.
- Beside You in Time
(2006) Nine Inch Nails North American Tour 2006.
- Rx (2005) starring Colin
Hanks, Eric Balfour and Alan Tudyk.
- Man on Fire
(2004) starring Denzel Washington
and Dakota Fanning.
- The Day After
Tomorrow (2004) starring Dennis
Quaid and Sela Ward.
- Saving Jessica
Lynch (2003) starring Laura
Regan.
- Kill Bill (2003) starring
Uma Thurman.
- Kingpin (2003)
starring Yancey Arias and Brian Benben.
- The Original
Latin Kings of Comedy (2002) featuring George Lopez, Cheech
Marin, Joey Medina, Alex Reymundo and Paul Rodriguez. It was shot at the Abraham
Chavez Theater.
- Traffic (2000)
starring Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid and Don
Cheadle.
- Committed (2000)
starring Heather
Graham.
- On the Border (1998)
starring Casper Van Dien, Bryan Brown, Daniel
Baldwin.
- Lolita (1997)
starring Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith.
- Last Man
Standing (1996) starring Bruce
Willis, Bruce Dern, Christopher Walken, Karina Lombard.
- Courage Under Fire
(1996) starring Denzel Washington
and Meg Ryan had all the Persian Gulf War
scenes shot at the Indian Cliffs Ranch.
- Blue Sky (1994)
starring Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones.
- Wild at Heart
(1990) starring Nicolas Cage and
Laura Dern.
- Extreme
Prejudice (1987) starring Nick
Nolte and Powers Boothe.
- Death of an Angel (1986) starring Bonnie Bedelia and Nick Mancuso.
- Lost in America (1985)
starring Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty.
- Fandango (1985)
starring Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson. Wedding scenes were filmed in front
of Mission San Elizario in San Elizario, Texas (near El Paso).
- Paris, Texas (1984)
starring Harry Dean Stanton and
Dean Stockwell.
- Lone Wolf McQuade
(1983) starring Chuck Norris and
David Carradine.
- Wrong is Right (1982)
starring Sean Connery.
- The Border (1982) starring
Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel. All the border scenes, the
refugee camp scene, and the U.S. Embassy scene were all shot in and
around El Paso.
- Second Hand Hearts (1981) starring Robert Blake and Barbara Harris.
- Resurrection
(1980) starring Ellen Burstyn.
- When You Comin'
Back, Red Ryder? (1979) starring Hal
Linden and Lee Grant.
- Big Wednesday (1978)
starring Jan Michael Vincent and Gary
Busey.
- I Thought It Was A
Go (2007) starring Kaelo Makua James and Chris "Nyph"
Ashness. A Deathcore music video featuring
the Deathcore band The Odessa Trail.
- The Bad
News Bears in Breaking Training (1977) starring William Devane.
- The Getaway
(1972) starring Steve McQueen
and Ali MacGraw.
- Manos: The Hands of
Fate (1966), which is reputed to be one of the worst films
ever made, was shot in and around El Paso. It premiered in 1966 at
the downtown Capri Theater.
- Take the High
Ground! (1953), starring Richard Widmark and Karl Malden.
Sister cities
El Paso, Texas has the following
sister
cities:
See also
Notes
- Population Estimates for Places over 100,000: 2000
to 2006
- El Paso
Information and Links
- El Paso, A Borderlands History, by W.H. Timmons, pp.
74, 75
- Records of California men in the war of the
rebellion 1861 to 1867, By California. Adjutant General's
Office, SACRAMENTO: State Office, J. D. Young, Supt. State
Printing. 1890. p.672
- Time changes in Chihuahua
-
http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/List4.txt
- www.elpasotexas.gov - City of El Paso
-
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/muni_clerk/_documents/2004_Charter_Election_Resolution.pdf
- http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12336439
- http://www.elpasotexas.gov/government.asp
-
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US4824000&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=El+Paso&_cityTown=El+Paso&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
-
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US4824000&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on
-
http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.csv
- San Jose now third safest city - News
- Del Sol Medical Center - Home Page
- Las
Palmas Medical Center - Home Page
- www.elpasotexas.gov - Sun Metro Homepage
- Paul Horgan, Great River: The Rio Grande in North American
History. Volume 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the
United States. 2 Vols. in 1, 1038 pages - Wesleyan University Press
1991, 4th Reprint, ISBN 0-8195-6251-3
External links
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