50 Fun Facts About El Paso

El Paso sits across the Rio Grande from which Mexican city?

Ciudad Juárez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, faces El Paso directly across the Rio Grande, and the two cities form one of the largest binational metropolitan areas on the US–Mexico border.

Which interstate highway runs east–west through El Paso?

Interstate 10 runs through El Paso on its coast-to-coast route from Santa Monica, California, to Jacksonville, Florida, entering Texas at the New Mexico line just west of the city.

Which time zone does El Paso observe?

Mountain Time: El Paso and neighbouring Hudspeth County are the only parts of Texas officially outside Central Time, so the city keeps the same clock as New Mexico rather than Dallas or Houston.

On average, how many days a year does the sun shine in El Paso, earning it the "Sun City" nickname?

El Paso averages 302 sunny days a year, roughly 83 percent of possible sunshine, which earned it the Sun City nickname.

El Paso lies within which desert?

The Chihuahuan Desert surrounds El Paso and forms the easternmost section of the Basin and Range region.

Which mountain range runs through the middle of El Paso?

The Franklin Mountains run 23 miles from El Paso into New Mexico, and give their name to Franklin Mountains State Park.

How high is the highest peak inside El Paso's city limits?

North Franklin Mountain reaches 7,192 feet, the highest point in the Franklin Mountains; downtown El Paso sits near 3,740 feet, so the peak rises about 3,400 feet above it.

El Paso is home to a 24,000-acre state park that is one of the largest what in the nation?

Franklin Mountains State Park, about 24,000 acres lying entirely inside El Paso's city limits, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States.

The Mexican city across the river was known by what name until 1888?

Its full name was El Paso del Norte, the North Pass; it was renamed for Benito Juárez, whose republican forces had stopped there during the French intervention.

Which Spanish explorer celebrated a Thanksgiving Mass by the Rio Grande near El Paso in 1598?

Juan de Oñate's colonising expedition held a Mass of thanksgiving beside the Rio Grande on 30 April 1598, 23 years before the Pilgrims' 1621 feast at Plymouth.

Which mission in El Paso is recognized as the oldest continuously operated parish in Texas?

Ysleta Mission was founded in 1682 by Tigua refugees who fled New Mexico after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, and the parish has served the community without a break since then.

Which colonial route linked Mexico City to northern New Mexico through El Paso del Norte?

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the 1,600-mile Royal Road of the Interior, crossed the Rio Grande at El Paso del Norte between Mexico City and Santa Fe; it was named a National Historic Trail in 2000.

El Paso County was established in 1850 with which town as its first county seat?

San Elizario, the old presidio town downriver from El Paso, was the first seat of El Paso County from 1850; the seat later moved to Ysleta and finally to the city of El Paso.

Who was hired in 1859 to survey and lay out the street plan of downtown El Paso?

Anson Mills, a young surveyor who later became an Army general, platted the townsite in 1859 and gave it the name El Paso, replacing the settlement's earlier name, Franklin.

In what year was the city of El Paso incorporated?

El Paso was incorporated as a city in 1873; the railroads arrived in 1881 and the population passed 10,000 by the 1890 census.

What lawless nickname did the boomtown earn in the 1880s?

The Six-shooter Capital was what El Paso's lawlessness earned it; gambling and prostitution flourished until the Army forced a crackdown during World War I.

Which Old West gunfighter was shot dead in El Paso's Acme Saloon in 1895?

John Wesley Hardin was shot in the back of the head by constable John Selman at the Acme Saloon on 19 August 1895, moments after calling 'Four sixes to beat' at the dice.

Which 52-acre El Paso cemetery holds the grave of gunfighter John Wesley Hardin?

Concordia holds between 60,000 and 65,000 graves, with sections for Buffalo Soldiers, Freemasons, Mormons and Jewish burials.

Which US and Mexican presidents met in El Paso in 1909, the first such summit?

William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz met in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez on 16 October 1909; a would-be assassin carrying a palm pistol was disarmed a few feet from the two men.

Which US Army post headquartered in El Paso is home to the 1st Armored Division?

Fort Bliss, headquartered in El Paso, became home to the 1st Armored Division in 2011, when the division moved back from Germany after 40 years there.

The Army post headquartered in El Paso covers roughly how much land across two states?

Fort Bliss spans about 1,700 square miles, some 1.12 million acres of Texas and New Mexico, which gives it the largest manoeuvre area of any US Army post.

Which general was stationed at El Paso's Army post in 1914 and later led the expedition against Pancho Villa?

John J. Pershing commanded a brigade at Fort Bliss from 1914 and led the 1916 Punitive Expedition into Mexico after Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico, that March.

In which year did the treaty settling El Paso's Chamizal border dispute take effect?

The Chamizal Convention, signed in August 1963 under President Kennedy, entered into force in January 1964; the Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso commemorates the settlement.

Under what name was the University of Texas at El Paso founded in 1913?

The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy was created by a 1913 act and opened in 1914; a practice mineshaft on campus and the Miners team name preserve the mining origins.

UTEP's campus buildings copy the fortress-monastery style of which Himalayan region?

Kathleen Worrell, wife of the school's first dean, saw photographs of Bhutan's fortress-monasteries in a 1914 National Geographic and thought their mountain setting matched El Paso's.

In 1966, Texas Western's all-Black starting five beat which team for the NCAA basketball title?

Texas Western beat Kentucky 72-65 in the 1966 final against Adolph Rupp's all-white Wildcats, a game later dramatised in the 2006 film Glory Road.

Who coached the 1966 Texas Western champions?

Don Haskins, nicknamed 'the Bear', coached Texas Western and UTEP from 1961 to 1999 and entered the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1997.

El Paso's Sun Bowl is the second-oldest college bowl game after which one?

Only the Rose Bowl, first played in 1902, is older than the Sun Bowl, whose first game on 1 January 1935 was between Texas high school teams.

In what year did Sun Bowl Stadium open?

Sun Bowl Stadium opened in September 1963 on the UTEP campus; its field sits about 3,910 feet above sea level, one of the highest in major college football.

El Paso's Triple-A baseball team is the Chihuahuas, an affiliate of which MLB club?

The San Diego Padres' Triple-A club moved from Tucson to El Paso in 2014, playing at Southwest University Park, built where the old city hall stood.

What is the name of El Paso's USL Championship soccer club, which debuted in 2019?

El Paso Locomotive FC, named for the railroads that built the city, began USL Championship play in 2019 and shares Southwest University Park with the Chihuahuas baseball club.

Which Franklin Mountains summit does the Wyler Aerial Tramway climb to?

The tramway's upper station sits on Ranger Peak at 5,632 feet, where the view on a clear day takes in two countries and three states: Texas, New Mexico and Chihuahua.

When was the Star on the Mountain first lit above El Paso?

El Paso Electric first lit the Star on the Mountain in December 1940 as a Christmas display on the Franklin Mountains above Scenic Drive, and it later became a year-round nightly fixture.

How tall is the El Paso Star?

The Star on the Mountain measures 459 feet tall and 278 feet wide, spread across the east face of the Franklin Mountains above Scenic Drive.

Mount Cristo Rey, topped by a giant limestone crucifix, is technically in which state?

Mount Cristo Rey rises above Sunland Park, New Mexico, just west of the El Paso city line; Urbici Soler's limestone Christ was completed in 1939 and draws Catholic pilgrims.

Hueco Tanks, east of El Paso, is named for what?

Hueco is Spanish for hollow, and the site's natural rock basins that trap rainwater drew people for thousands of years, leaving pictographs that include hundreds of painted masks.

Chico's Tacos, an El Paso institution since 1953, is famous for rolled tacos served in what?

Chico's Tacos, founded by boxing promoter Joe Mora in 1953, serves rolled tacos swimming in a tomato soup-like sauce under shredded cheese, a combination that made it an El Paso legend.

Downtown's San Jacinto Plaza is nicknamed after which animals that once lived in its pond?

Live alligators were kept in the plaza's pond from the 1880s, earning it the nickname La Plaza de los Lagartos; after their removal, Luis Jiménez's fiberglass alligator sculpture took their place in 1995.

El Paso's Plaza Theatre, opened in 1930, was fitted with a $60,000 pipe organ made by which company?

The Plaza opened in September 1930 with a $60,000 Wurlitzer pipe organ and an atmospheric auditorium of twinkling stars and drifting clouds; the theatre reopened in 2006 after a full restoration.

In which year did El Paso's modern streetcar system open?

El Paso's modern streetcar opened on 9 November 2018, running a 4.8-mile downtown loop with six restored PCC cars from the city's original mid-century fleet.

Which country singer wrote and recorded the 1959 ballad "El Paso", set in Rosa's Cantina?

Marty Robbins wrote 'El Paso' and took it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1960; it won the Grammy for Best Country & Western Performance in 1961.

Which television creator was born in El Paso in 1921?

Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso on 19 August 1921 and raised in Los Angeles, where his father was a police officer; he served in the LAPD himself before creating Star Trek in 1966.

Which singer from El Paso broke through with the 2016 single 'Location'?

Khalid, born in 1998, is from El Paso; 'Location' was his breakout, and the debut album American Teen followed in 2017.

Which El Paso politician served on the city council from 2005 to 2011 before running for Senate against Ted Cruz?

Beto O'Rourke was mayor pro tempore in his first year on El Paso's council, a seat he held until 2011.

Roughly what share of El Paso's residents identified as Hispanic in the 2020 census?

About 81% of El Paso's residents identified as Hispanic or Latino in the 2020 census, one of the highest shares of any large city in the United States.

What was El Paso's population in the 2020 census?

The 2020 census counted 678,815 people in El Paso, making it the sixth-largest city in Texas, the largest in West Texas and 23rd in the nation.

Which national park, home to Texas's highest peak, lies about 110 miles east of El Paso?

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 110 miles east of El Paso, contains Guadalupe Peak, at 8,751 feet the highest point in Texas; it was established as a national park in 1972.

The Magoffin Home, built in 1875, is a landmark example of which architectural style?

The Magoffin Home's thick adobe walls trimmed with Greek Revival woodwork make it a prime example of Territorial style, the blend of adobe building and Anglo-American detailing that spread through the Southwest after 1848.

Which former Air Force base next to El Paso's airport became an Army airfield in 1966?

Biggs Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command bomber base beside El Paso International Airport, passed to the Army in 1966 and operates as Biggs Army Airfield within Fort Bliss.

Which East El Paso ZIP code was considered the most populous in the United States in 2013?

ZIP code 79936, covering much of East El Paso, held more than 114,000 people in 2013, when several rankings named it the most populous ZIP code in the United States.