Our History

The San Elizario Historic District is rich in history as we have buildings and stories that date back to the 15th Century. You will be able to learn about our community and its culture throughout the centuries!

Photo of Los Portales Sign in polaroid frame

Los Portales Musuem

The building, now known as "Los Portales'' or Casa Garcia, served as the first public school in El Paso County, beginning in 1870.
Los portales was built in 1855 as a family home and it is unique due to the veranda located at the entrance instead of the rear. This building also served as a meeting location for officials.
1870 Los Portales became the village schoolhouse.
1878 Octaviano Larrazolo became the teacher. He later became the governor of NM.
1879 the sisters of Loretto opened a school nearby but by 1892 they had moved to El Paso.
From 1940 to late 1960 los portales were rented out as residential apartments. Over the course of the years the building deteriorated and something had to be done to be preserved. The womens Department of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce under the director, Mrs. Maurice Hill, got the project to restore Los Portales. In 1974 Los Portales opened their doors and it became a great tourist attraction. In the 1980s los portales once again served as classrooms. In the 2000s los portales became a museum.

Photo of Juan de Onate statue in polaroid frame

Juan de Onate was a Spanish colonizer from New Spain who became the colonial governor of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. He was born in Zacatecas which is located in north-central Mexico. His father had become wealthy from the silver mines of Zacatecas, and his mother was the granddaughter of Hernando Cortes and the great-granddaughter of Montezuma.
In 1598, Juan de Onate embarked on a journey from Santa Barbara, Chihuahua to Espanola, New Mexico, which is an over 800-mile trip. Instead of following the river Conchos, as other expeditions did, he decided to cross the Chihuahua desert. They ran out of water four days before reaching the Rio Grande near present-day Villa Ahumada (88 miles from El Paso). The expedition was made up of over 400 people, which included military men and families.
On April 30, 1598, he ordered the friars traveling with him to say a Thanksgiving mass, and afterward, he claimed the land for Spain in the name of King Philip II. Afterwards, they feasted and the military men wore costumes and put on a play. A few days later they retook the journey to present-day Espanola, New Mexico which they would reach 4 months later.
Today Oñate is known for the 1599 Acoma Massacre. Following a dispute that led to the ambush and death of thirteen Spaniards at the hands of the Ácoma, including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar, Oñate ordered a brutal retaliation against Acoma Pueblo. The Pueblo was destroyed. Around 800–1000 Ácoma were killed including women and children. After the massacre, the remaining prisoners were sentenced to hard labor, and some of them had parts of their feet mutilated. He was eventually banished from New Mexico and exiled from Mexico for less than half a decade, convicted by the Spanish government of using "excessive force" against the Acoma people.
Today, Oñate remains a controversial figure in New Mexican history: in 1998, the right foot was cut off a statue of the conquistador that stands in Alcalde, New Mexico, in protest of the massacre, and significant controversy arose when a large equestrian statue of Oñate was erected in El Paso, Texas, in 2006.

Juan de Oñate

Photo of a man in a salt flat in a polaroid frame

The Salt War

Located 90 miles northeast of San Elizario, on Texas Highway 62 heading towards Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The salt lakes were the common property of the valley towns of San Elizario, Socorro, and Ysleta.
In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the US promised to uphold all Spanish land grants but since no one owned them, everyone continued to take salt as they did in the past.
Politicians from Franklin (now El Paso) filed claims for the lakes and started charging people.
Charles Howard, a missionary who sought to own and sell the salt from the lakes, took refuge with the Texas Rangers. Fighting would start between them and the locals of the region. This fight would last for several days.
The 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers stationed at Ft Bayard near Silver City were called out but they left because they were not an international army and would not go into Mexico.
Before the Salt War, Ft. Bliss had been closed because the Apaches no longer posed a threat to the nearby areas. Five years later, Ft. Bliss would be re-established and reopened to keep the peace. So if it was not for the "peleoneros de San Eli" (the trouble makers of San Eli), Ft. Bliss might not exist today.

For more information on the Salt War please pay us a visit at Los Portales Museum.

Photo of San Elizario church in polaroid frame

Presidio Church

Was built in 1877.
Before they built the chapel there was a Mexican chapel there.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
It is an example of the Spanish Colonial Style.
Area: 0.5 acres
Late examples of adobe architecture in West Texas. reflects European influences on the Spanish Colonial Style.
Plastered adobe walls.
Painted white walls.
The bell tower brings a soft contrast to the hard-edged history.
The “high wall fortress” was built to serve the Spanish soldiers and their families.
Traditional architecture with thick adobe walls
Massive buttress and flat viga (ceiling beam) roof.
The Chapel's single-nave design moved purposefully toward a center altar, white tall, narrow, arched windows reach toward a triangular bell tower on top of the façade.
The design tried to imitate the modest box-style model of the early southwest mission architecture, though technically San Elizario was not part of the mission system.
As the territorial period moved into the 250 century the introduction of new European elements brought the chapel and its current Spanish colonial revival style.

Old County Jail

The Old County Jail is one part of history for San Elizario. It was built in the early 1800’s. First for residence then becoming a jail in 1850. The jail was brought in sections by railroad and wagon from Chicago, Illinois. It is a federal penitentiary-type cell, the walls, floor, ceiling, front bars, and door are all made of steel. It remained in use while San Elizario was the county seat - except for two short spans (1854 and 1866) - until 1873. Up to 6 prisoners were held in the prison cells. The cells prevent anyone from breaking in or out. The building houses both the jail and the courtroom.
Records show that the jail was being used until the years 1920-1970s by Antonio Trujillo. Antonio Trujillo was a constable for about 50 years. Antonio Used the jail as a house temporarily for the prisoners that he had to take to El Paso Jail since San Elizario was no longer a county seat.
In the 1870's it is said that Billy the Kid(Henry Mckarthy) Broke his friend (Melquiades Segura)out of jail. he did this by disguising himself as a sheriff and infiltrating the jail.