# Timeline of El Paso, Texas

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of El Paso, Texas.

## Prior to 20th century

Part of a series on the :
History of Texas :
Timeline :
| Pre-Columbian Texas | |
| Early Spanish explorations | 1519–1543 |
| French Texas | 1684–1689 |
| Spanish Texas | 1690–1821 |
| Mexican Texas | 1821–1836 |
| Republic of Texas | 1836–1845 |
| Statehood | 1845–1860 |
| Civil War Era | 1861–1865 |
| Reconstruction | 1865–1899 |
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* 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.
* 1827 - Juan María Ponce de León is given a land grant for what is now downtown El Paso.
* 1849 – U.S. military Fort Bliss established.
* 1850 – El Paso County created, which originally extended north to what is now Garfield, New Mexico, and extending all the way to the Pecos River
* 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
* 1873 – El Paso incorporated.
* 1876 – Lone Star newspaper begins publication.
* 1881
** Southern Pacific Railroad begins operating.
** El Paso Times and El Paso Herald newspapers begin publication.
* 1882 – Avenida Lerdo–Stanton Street Bridge and Montgomery Building constructed.
* 1883 – First National Bank built.
* 1884
** El Paso County seat relocated to El Paso from Ysleta.
** El Paso Browns baseball team formed.
* 1888 - El Paso del Norte renamed "Juárez" in honor of Benito Juárez. leaving El Paso, Texas the sole El Paso.
* 1889 – McGinty Club active.
* 1890 – Population: 10,338.
* 1892 – Santa Fe Street bridge built.
* 1895 – El Paso Public Library founded.
* 1898 - Zion Lutheran Church is established. It is the first Lutheran Church in El Paso.
* 1899 – American Smelting and Refining Company plant in operation.
* 1900 – White House Department Store in business.

## 20th century
### 1900s–1940s

* 1901 – El Paso Electric Company formed.
* 1902
** Electric streetcar begins operating.
** Popular Dry Goods Department Store in business.
* 1904 - Carnegie Library opens.
* 1906 – Union Depot opens.
* 1910 – Population: 39,279.
* 1911 – Anson Mills Building constructed.
* 1912 – Hotel Paso del Norte in business.
* 1913 – Several hundred workers at the American Smelting and Refining Company's plant go on strike.
* 1914
** Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso established.
** Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy opens.
* 1916 - El Paso High School opens
* 1917
** Bath Riots occurred to protest new U.S. immigration/entry requirements for Mexican's crossing the border.
** Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick dedicated.
* 1919 – June 15–16: Battle of Ciudad Juárez occurs near El Paso.
* 1920 – Population: 77,560.
* 1921 – Ku Klux Klan active.
* 1922 – El Paso Post newspaper begins publication.
* 1924 – United States Border Patrol begins operating.
* 1925 – Cathedral High School established.
* 1926 – Orndorff Hotel built.
* 1928 – El Paso Municipal Airport built.
* 1929 - KTSM and WDAH radio begin broadcasting.
* 1930
** Bassett Tower built.
** Plaza Theatre and El Paso Zoo open.
** Austin High School opens.
** Hilton Hotel in business.
** Population: 102,421.
* 1933 – Junior League of El Paso founded.
* 1935
** Sun Bowl football contest begins.
** First neon sign installed in El Paso, atop the steeple of Zion Lutheran Church, in December in time for Christmas
* 1936 – United States Court House built.
* 1937
** El Paso Mothers' Health Center opens.
** Kress Building constructed.
* 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; 131,067 county.
* 1942
** Biggs Air Force Base begins operating near Fort Bliss.
** Ysleta–Zaragoza Bridge rebuilt.
** El Paso County Coliseum opens.
* 1945 - Household Furniture Opens
* 1946 – El Paso Drive-in cinema opens.
* 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.
** Population: 130,485.
* 1952
** KROD-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
** Town of Anthony incorporated near El Paso.
* 1953 - KTSM-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
* 1954 – El Paso County Historical Society founded.
* 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"
** Population: 276,687.
* 1961 – Village of Vinton incorporated near El Paso.
* 1962
** Bassett Place shopping mall in business.
** Chase Tower built.
** New city flag adopted.
* 1963 – Sun Bowl stadium opens.
* 1965
** U.S. Supreme Court decides El Paso v. Simmons contract-related lawsuit.
** Fox Theatre (cinema) opens.
* 1967
** Cordova Bridge built.
** 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.
* 1970 – Population: 322,261.
* 1971
** El Paso Genealogical Society founded.
** Wells Fargo Plaza hi-rise built.
* 1972
** September: Raza Unida Party convention held in El Paso.
** El Paso Community College established.
* 1973 – Biggs Air Force Base becomes Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss.
* 1974
** Civic Center opens.
** Cielo Vista Mall, first enclosed air-conditioned shopping center, opens.
** Chamizal National Memorial established.
* 1977 – El Paso Museum of Archaeology established.
* 1980
** Mujer Obrera (labor group) established.
** Population: 425,259 city; 479,899 county.
* 1981
** Foreign trade zone established.
** "Sandra Day O'Connor, a native of El Paso, becomes the first woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice."
* 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; 591,610 county.
* 1997 – Silvestre Reyes becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 16th congressional district.
* 1998 – City website online (approximate date).
* 1999 – Chihuahuan Desert Gardens established.
* 2000 – Population: 563,662 city; 679,622 county.

## 21st century

* 2003
** Carolina Park skatepark opens.
** Cinemark West cinema in business.
* 2004 – International news media reports on ongoing female homicides in Juarez City area.
* 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.
* 2007
** El Paso Marathon begins.
** El Paso Skatepark Association formed.
** El Paso Star remodeled.
* 2008 – Borderzine website launched.
* 2010
** December 17: Mexican drone crashes down in El Paso.
** Population: 649,121 city; 800,647 county.
* 2011 – Worst drought in a decade.
* 2013
** ASARCO smokestacks demolished.
** City Hall demolished to make room for Southwest University Park baseball stadium.
* 2019
** A terrorist mass shooting at a Walmart kills 23 people and injures 22 others.