Alderete-Candelaria House

Ysleta, where Benigno Alderete served as mayor, had trouble keeping a town government. Henry L. Dexter became its first mayor in 1859, but that government did not last, and neither did one formed in the early 1870s. Voters approved incorporation in 1880, and in 1889 the council declared Ysleta a city, only to see the government dissolve in 1895 after quarrels over water, land grants and scarce resources. Ysleta had taken the county seat from San Elizario in 1873 and lost it to El Paso in a bitterly disputed 1883 election. El Paso annexed the town in 1955.

What the plaque says

Alderete-Candelaria House Although the exact building date for this adobe masonry structure is unknown, it appears to have been constructed during the 1870s for Benigno Alderete (1845-1916). Born in Ysleta (now part of El Paso), Alderete served at various times as a Texas Ranger, county commissioner, and town mayor. The residence became known as the Candelaria House after Alderete's granddaughter Ester married Alex Candelaria, whose family also had been leaders in early El Paso County history. The large "L" shaped house and courtyard originally shared the property with a corral, irrigation ditch, and agricultural field. Built with the help of the neighboring Tigua Indians, the house exhibits many examples of their construction techniques. While Alderete's descendants continued to live in parts of the structure until 1969, other parts have been used for a variety of purposes. The house served as an outbuilding for the nearby mission, as a temporary courthouse, gristmill, school, dance hall, puppet show theatre, movie house, and county office building. The style and usage of the Alderete-Candelaria House attest to the blending of Spanish, Indian, and American influences in the area. This cultural mix is an important part of El Paso County history. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ysleta Mission (Corpus Christi de la Ysleta del Sur) — steps away
  The Tigua mission church at Ysleta, rebuilt in 1908 around the walls, bell and Santo Entierro that came through fire, its interior painted with rain clouds and corn.
• Tigua Indian Cultural Center, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo — 0.7 mi
  The cultural center of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the Tigua nation that has lived in the Mission Valley of El Paso since 1682 and keeps its own history here.
• Socorro Mission (Nuestra Senora de la Limpia Concepcion del Socorro) — 2.5 mi
  Socorro's adobe church on the El Paso Mission Trail, with walls five feet thick, carved vigas from an older church and a statue of Saint Michael said to have chosen the town.
• San Elizario Historic District — 7.9 mi
  A plaza of adobe buildings at the end of the El Paso Mission Trail: an 1877 chapel, Gregorio Garcia's portaled house and the old county jail of Billy the Kid legend.

More markers nearby

• Oldest Mission in Texas — steps away
• Corpus Christi de la Ysleta — steps away
• San Antonio de Senecu — 1.6 mi
• Captain Frank Jones — 1.6 mi