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SAN
ELIZARIO, TEXASEl
Paso County, West Texas
FM 258 and FM 1110
15 Miles SE of Downtown El
Paso
Population: 11,046 (2000)
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San
Elizario Chapel
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2003 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
The town dates from 1598 when Juan de Oņate arrived near the
site. Oņate claimed the region (including present-day New Mexico) for the Spanish
crown. The original settlement went by the name Hacienda de los Tiburcios and
later moved to the south side of the Rio Grande. In 1775 the community had a population
of 157. The Spanish built their presidio directly across the river from Fort
Hancock in the Valle de San Elizario and when the presido later relocated
to the Hacienda de los Tiburcios, the presidio retained the name - changing the
name of the settlement to San Elizario.
San Elizario was second only
to El Paso for most of the nineteenth century.
After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, San Elizario became part
of the state of Chihuahua. In 1841 the population was just over 1,000. A change
in the course of the Rio Grande left San Elizario in between the old and new channels
of the river. It became part of Texas in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The community was on the Corpus
Christi to California road and during the 1849 gold rush, many fortune-seekers
passed through on the way to Sutter's Mill.
When El Paso County was organized
in 1850, San Elizario was made the county seat and except for two short spans
(1854 and 1866) it was El Paso County's seat of government until 1873. During
the Civil War Union troops occupied the presidio, but it was abandoned after the
war. |
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Old
El Paso County jail in the first county seat of San Elizario.
Photo courtesy
Terry Jeanson, December 2005 |
Historic
landmark marker in front of old El Paso County jail.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2005 |
San
Elizario Chapel
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, December 2005 |
San
Elizario Chapel interior
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, December 2005 |
San
Elizario Chapel interior
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, December 2005 |
| San Elizario's decline
began in the early 1870s and during the "Salt War" of 1877, the town lost population
to the Mexican side. Finally, the town was bypassed by the railroad in 1881 and
as El Paso grew, San Elizario shrank. The
population was still a healthy 1,500 in 1890 but by 1914 it had declined to just
over 800. It reached rock-bottom in 1931 with a population of 300 but grew slowly
over the years to climb back to 1914 levels by the 1970s. | |
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