The Booker Villa home was built in 1915 by L.E. Booker, a prominent cattleman and lumberman. Booker’s daughter, Blanche, oversaw the designing and construction of the building. Ms. Booker took courses in architectural drawing and went into interior decorating. Blanche, who was a frequent traveler, was described as eccentric but was a good and fun hostess and she hosted a […]
Uncategorized
Curator’s Corner: Promotional items
Who can resist the allure of a free T-shirt? From shoehorns to hacky sacks, icepicks to mouse pads, promotional items are such a ubiquitous part of our consumer society that they are often overlooked. Whether they are the last surviving remnants of a short-lived business venture, mementoes from an iconic local organization, or collectibles from […]
Event June, 25: Find Your Legacy: Genealogy Workshop
History isn’t just about those people who we read about in books or watch in documentaries. Our individal and family stories forge a rich tapestry of our local, regional, national, and even international history. Unfortunately, many of us don’t know our backgrounds, and many of us don’t even know where to begin searching for answers. […]
Event June 18, 2016: Death on the Calle del Diablo–The killing of “El Pablote” and the Birth of the Narcocorrido
Join us this Saturday, June 18, 2016, at 10AM for Bob Chessey’s presentation on Juarez drug kingpin Pablo Gonzalez. Pablo “El Pablote” Gonzalez was one of the first “drug lords” of Juarez, Chihuahua Mexico. “El Pablote” practiced his craft from 1924-1930. In 1930 he was killed in a gunfight inside the red light district of Juarez. […]
Ysleta school history series: San Jose, Texico and old Ysleta grammar Schools
In September of 1871, a public school was organized on Martin Ranch 3 miles from Ysleta with E.N. Ronquillo as the teacher. Martin Ranch was owned by Alexander Martin who owned a lot of property in San Jose. Martin donated land for Catholic Church in 1892. Classes were conducted in homes until a school building […]
1976: Developer of pinto bean dies in El Paso
August 3, 1976, El Paso Times Manrique R. Gonzalez, pioneer agricultural engineer in the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico who gained fame as a developer of the pinto bean, died Monday at Providence Hospital of an illness. Mr. Gonzalez, 96, gained prominence in this country just after World war I when, as a county agricultural agent […]
Event-Anita Blair: El Paso Legend, May 21
Coming up this month we will be hosting a very interesting talk and exhibit by local historian Joseph Longo about a force of nature in El Paso: Anita Blair. Anita was the first El Paso woman elected to the Texas Legislature and the first blind woman to be elected to office in the United States. Though […]
Curator’s Corner
One of the items accessioned into the archival collections last month was this special El Paso Times newspaper supplement from February 1968 celebrating the International Rodeo & Southwestern Livestock Show. Its pages are chock-full of articles & advertisements pertaining to the rodeo & all of its accompanying events. One of the main attractions was […]
Curator’s Corner
The El Paso County Historical Society recently acquired a collection of New Mexico high school & university yearbooks. Included in the acquisition were some high school yearbooks of Mesilla resident, Verna Lowry, who was a member of the Las Cruces Union High School Class of 1942. Hidden gems are often to be found amongst archive materials, […]
Password Index
The El Paso County Historical Society has been publishing Password, a quarterly publication, since 1956. Password contains articles about El Paso and the surrounding area. Below is an index to those articles. -A- -B- -C- -D- -E- -F- -G- -H- -I- -J- -K- -L- -M- -N- -O- -P- -Q- -R- -S- -T- -U- -V- -W- […]