El Paso’s history reflects centuries of development shaped by exploration, settlement, and cross-border influence, evolving from early Spanish-era communities along the Rio Grande into an incorporated city in the late 19th century, with milestones that highlight its cultural, economic and political significance over time.
Here is a look back at some milestones in El Paso’s history:
1598 – El Paso’s claim to the first Thanksgiving is celebrated on the banks of the Rio Grande, near present-day San Elizario, by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate and his expedition on April 30, 1598.
1682 – Ysleta Mission, the oldest continuously operated parish in Texas, is established.
1827 – Juan María Ponce de León received a grant of approximately 215 acres of mud flats on the north bank of the Rio Grande, which is now Downtown El Paso.
1849 – Fort Bliss established.
1850 – El Paso County was created.
1859 – Anson Mills platted a town on Ponce’s Rancho and named it El Paso.
1873 – El Paso incorporated. Benjamin Dowell elected as first mayor.
1877 – San Elizario Salt War erupts.
1881 – Railroads arrive. El Paso Times, El Paso Herald, and The Lone Star newspapers begin publication.
1884 – El Paso County seat moves to El Paso from Ysleta.
1888 – El Paso del Norte renamed “Juárez” in honor of Benito Juárez.
1892 – Santa Fe Street bridge built.
1895 – El Paso Public Library founded. John Wesley Hardin shot and killed by Constable John Selman Sr. in the Acme Saloon.
1899 – American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) opens.
1901 – El Paso Electric Company formed.
1902 – Electric streetcar begins operating.
1904 – Carnegie Library opens.
1906 – Union Depot opens.
1914 – Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso is established. Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy opens.
1916 – El Paso High School opens.
1921 – Ku Klux Klan plays an active, short-lived role in El Paso.
1924 – United States Border Patrol formed.
1928 – El Paso Municipal Airport built.
1930 – Plaza Theatre opens.
1935 – Sun Bowl football begins.
1939 – Fort Bliss National Cemetery established. First pilgrimage to Mount Cristo Rey.
1940 – El Paso Star on the Mountain first lit.
1942 – Biggs Air Force Base begins operating. El Paso County Coliseum dedicated.
1949 – Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy becomes Texas Western College.
1952 – Television arrives in El Paso as KROD-TV begins broadcasting.
1957– Raymond Telles became the first Hispanic mayor of a major U.S. city when he was elected mayor of El Paso.
1959 – Sunland Park Racetrack opens in nearby New Mexico.
1960 – Wyler Aerial Tramway begins operating.
1963 – Sun Bowl Stadium opens.
1964 – Chamizal Treaty signed, ending the land dispute between Mexico and the U.S.
1966 – Texas Western College (TWC) become NCAA Champions after being the first team to start an all-African American lineup in an NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship.
1967 – Cordova Bridge built. Texas Western College becomes University of Texas at El Paso. El Paso Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry built as part of the Chamizal Treaty.
1972 – El Paso Community College established.
1974 – Civic Center opens. Chamizal National Memorial established.
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor, a native of El Paso, becomes the first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice.
1985 – Miss El Paso Laura Martínez Harring won Miss Texas USA, then Miss USA, becoming the first Hispanic woman to do so.
1991 – The Patriot air-defense system based at Fort Bliss gained fame as the “Scudbusters” during the Persian Gulf War.
2003 – Fort Bliss’ 507th Maintenance Company made a wrong turn and was ambushed in Nasiriyah, Iraq. Eleven soldiers were killed, and seven were taken prisoner of war.
2006 – Major flooding hits El Paso with up to 10 inches of rain in one week.
2013 – ASARCO smokestacks were demolished. City Hall was demolished to make room for Southwest University Park baseball stadium.
2019 – A mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart kills 23 people and injures 22 others.
2025 – Renard Johnson sworn in as El Paso’s first Black mayor.
2025 – The Walmart shooter pleaded guilty to the 2019 mass shooting, receiving a life sentence.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: America 250: El Paso timeline of key moments that shaped US history
Reporting by Trish Long, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Trish Long, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
