El Paso, Texas

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El Paso, Texas
Image:El_Paso_Texas.jpg
Image:Seal_ElPasoTX.jpg
City flag City seal
City nickname: Star of the Southwest or Land of the Sun

Location in the state of Texas
County El Paso County, Texas
Area
 - Total
648.9 km² (250.5 mi²)
Population
 - Total (2000)
 - Metropolitan
 - Density
563,662
679,622
873.7/km²
Time zone Mountain: UTC–7
Location 31° 47′25″N, 106° 25′24″W
Mayor John Cook
City website

El Paso is the county seat of El Paso County in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 563,662. El Paso — second only to San Diego, California, in size among all U.S. cities on the U.S.-Mexico border — lies opposite Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The two cities form a bi-national metropolitan area of approximately two million people, divided by the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte).

El Paso is home to The University of Texas at El Paso (founded 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy, received university status 1967). Fort Bliss, a major United States Army installation, lies to the east and northeast of the city, extending north up to the White Sands Missile Range. The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections.

El Paso is served by El Paso International Airport, I-10, U.S. Highway 54, and Mexican Federal Highway 45.

Contents

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History

Archeological evidence at the Keystone Wetlands and Hueco Tanks sites indicates thousands of years of human settlement within the El Paso region. The Manso and Suma Indians were identified as present by the earliest Spanish explorers. Nothing is known of these people's origin or ultimate fate.

After the settling of El Paso del Norte, on the south bank of the Rio Grande, the present-day city of El Paso was simply the Ponce de León Ranch, on the north side of the river. American settlers began drifting into El Paso, to stay for good after the founding of the Texas Republic and the Mexican Cession.

A trading post called Franklin was established during this time. El Paso was platted in 1859, but grew slowly when the railroads came in 1881. The population had grown to 10,000 by the 1890 census.

During the late 1880s and 1890s, El Paso acquired a reputation as a lawless and violent "wild west" town. The most notorious local figure was John Wesley Hardin. Hardin was gunned down inside the Acme Saloon on a warm evening of August 19, 1895. Violence-hardened Constable John Selman killed Hardin and became famous virtually overnight as Hardin's killer. Prostitution and gambling flourished until World War I, when the Department of the Army pressured El Paso authorities to crack down on vice. Many of these activities continued to flourish in neighboring Ciudad Juárez, especially during the Prohibition, when bars and saloons on the Mexican side flourished.

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) began in 1910, and Ciudad Juárez was the focus of intense fighting. Occasionally, stray shots killed civilians on the El Paso side. El Paso became a center of intrigue as various exiled leaders including Victoriano Huerta and (for a time) Pancho Villa were seen in the city. General John Joseph Pershing was stationed at Fort Bliss, and mounted his ill fated expedition against Pancho Villa after the infamous raid on Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916. The cavalry under Pershing were paid in gold, in competition with Pancho Villa, who offered $50 per machine gun. (When World War I began, Pershing's cavalry had to remain in the Army for the duration of the war, and were no longer paid in gold.)

From World War II until the 1980s, El Paso boomed into a sprawling city. The expansion of Fort Bliss from a frontier post to a major Cold War military center brought in thousands of soldiers, dependents, and retirees. The industrial economy was dominated by copper smelting, oil refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries (particularly garment making), which drew thousands of Mexican immigrants. New housing subdivisions were built, expanding El Paso far to the west, northeast and east of its original core areas.

In 1963, the U.S. agreed to cede a long-disputed part of El Paso to Mexico due to changes in the course of the Rio Grande, which forms the international boundary between the two countries. *This area of town is a national park. Part of it was ceded but The Chamizal is a major park in El Paso.

Since 1990, the local economy has been adversely affected by competition with low wage labor abroad, and the closure of the main copper smelter. The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement has been a mixed blessing, with local transport, retail, and service firms expanding, but with the accelerated loss of many industrial jobs. El Paso is very sensitive to changes in the Mexican economy and the regulation of cross border traffic; the Mexican peso devaluation of late 1994 and the temporary closing of the ports of entry and subsequent stringent controls of cross border traffic after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack were felt strongly in El Paso.

Since the establishment of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area, El Paso has seen a boom in population. More recently, the BRAC commission has marked the base to receive more the 18,000 troops, which is estimated to add 547 million dollars to the El Paso economy. El Paso is also home to the El Paso International Airport and a high school dedicated to Captain John L. Chapin.

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Geography and climate

The Franklin Mountains as seen from Kilbourne hole 50 kilometers west of El Paso
Enlarge
The Franklin Mountains as seen from Kilbourne hole 50 kilometers west of El Paso

El Paso is located at 31° 47′25″N, 106° 25′24″W (31.790208, -106.423242)GR1. The city is at 3750 feet (1140 m) above sea level. The mountain peaks in El Paso reach 7200 feet (2200 m) above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 648.9 km² (250.5 mi²).

The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections. The Rio Grande Rift lies beneath the Pass, through which the Rio Grande flows, as evidenced by an extinct volcano, Mt. Cristo Rey just to the west of the city, on the New Mexico side of the Rio Grande. Other volcanic features include Kilbourne hole and Hunt's hole, which are Maar volcanic craters 30 miles (50 km) west of the Franklin Mountains. El Paso is surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert, the easternmost section of the Basin and Range Region. Temperatures average from a high of 56 °F (13 °C) and a low of 29 °F (−2 °C) in January to a high of 96 °F (35.5 °C [100°F is possible]) and low of 68 °F (20 °C) in August. The city's record high is 114 °F (45.5 °C), and its record low is −8 °F (−22 °C). Rainfall averages 8.74 inches (222 mm) per annum. The sun shines 302 days per year in El Paso, 83 percent of daylight hours, according to the El Paso Weather Bureau. However, El Paso gets the summer monsoonal moisture. Winds turn to a more south to southeast direction, importing moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico. As this moisture moves into the El Paso area (and many other areas in the southwest), a combination of orographic uplift from the mountains, and daytime heating from the sun, causes thunderstorms to develop across the region. This is what causes most of the rain in the El Paso area. Monsoon season starts in July and usually ends in mid September.

El Paso (top) and Ciudad Juárez (bottom) as seen from earth orbit; the Rio Grande River is the thin line separating the two cities through the middle of the photograph. A portion of the Franklin Mountains can be seen in the upper-left. Image courtesy of NASA.
Enlarge
El Paso (top) and Ciudad Juárez (bottom) as seen from earth orbit; the Rio Grande River is the thin line separating the two cities through the middle of the photograph. A portion of the Franklin Mountains can be seen in the upper-left. Image courtesy of NASA.
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Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 563,662 people, 182,063 households, and 141,098 families residing in the city. The population density is 873.7/km² (2,263.0/mi²). There are 193,663 housing units at an average density of 300.2/km² (777.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 76.62% Hispanic or Latino, 3.12% African American, 0.82% Native American, 1.12% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 18.15% from other races, and 3.40% from two or more races.

There are 182,063 households, out of which 42.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% are married couples living together, 18.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% are non-families. 19.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.07 and the average family size is 3.54.

In the city the population is spread out with 31.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $32,124, and the median income for a family is $35,432. Males have a median income of $28,989 versus $21,540 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,388. 22.2% of the population and 19.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 29.8% of those under the age of 18 and 17.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

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Education

El Paso is served by many public school districts. They are:

El Paso Independent School District, http://www.episd.org
Ysleta Independent School District, http://www.yisd.net
Socorro Independent School District, http://www.sisd.net
Canutillo Independent School District, http://www.canutillo-isd.org
Clint Independent School District, http://www.clintweb.net

There are also parochial schools within the El Paso Catholic Diocese
http://www.geocities.com/elpaso2k

and also other larger religious affiliated and private schools such as:

Cathedral High School, http://www.cathedral-elpaso.org
Loretto Academy, http://www.loretto.org
El Paso Country Day School, http://www.epcds.org
El Paso Jewish Academy, http://home.elp.rr.com/ephds
Radford School, http://www.radfordschool.org. Note: Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner attended Radford.
St. Clement's Episcopal Parish School, http://www.stclements.org


El Paso Community College Main Page
University of Texas at El Paso UTEP's Main Page

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See also

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Trivia

  • El Paso is at the intersection of three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua), and two countries (the USA and Mexico).
  • El Paso is the only major Texas city on Mountain Time.
  • When Ciudad Juárez was on Central Time and El Paso was on Mountain Time, it was possible to celebrate New Year's twice in the same evening. Both cities are now on Mountain Time.
  • Manos: The Hands of Fate, which is reputed to be one of the worst films ever made, was shot in and around El Paso. It premiered in 1966 at the downtown Capri Theater.
  • Courage Under Fire was also filmed in El Paso.
  • The 2004 Movie The Day After Tomorrow, which was filmed on-location in El Paso, featured 2 local news reporters covering the mass number of people crossing the border. Robert Holguin KVIA-TV, and former reporter Suzanne Michaels for KDBC-TV.
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External links

http://www.elpasotimes.com/
http://www.newspapertree.com/
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/shm.htm
News from El Paso and the surrounding area


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