Felix Martinez

Before El Paso, Martinez built his politics in San Miguel County, New Mexico. Running as a Democrat for county treasurer in 1884, he lost but cut sharply into the Republican majority, then won the assessor's race in 1886. He took the lead of el Partido del Pueblo Unido, a populist party, and by 1892 had steered it into fusion with the Democrats. On the Territorial Council he sponsored what became New Mexico Highlands University and the state mental hospital, both in Las Vegas.

What the plaque says

Felix Martinez In the early twentieth century, Felix Martinez was a prominent Hispanic businessman who worked closely with Anglo American leaders to transform El Paso into a major commercial, industrial and agricultural center of the American Southwest. Born in 1857 in the frontier town of Peñasco, New Mexico, Martinez was elected to the New Mexico Territorial House of Representatives and Territorial Council, where he fostered economic development, educational reform and public health. He published La Voz del Pueblo from 1890 to 1916, which became the leading Spanish-language newspaper in the territory. After moving to El Paso in 1897, Martinez co-established the El Paso Electric Railway company, which brought electricity to many of the city's homes and businesses. He helped found the El Paso Realty Company, owned the El Paso Daily News (1899-1907) and contributed to the construction of today's Centre Building (formerly the White House Department Store and Hotel McCoy) on Pioneer Plaza. Martinez worked with reformers to rid the city of gambling, crime and prostitution in the early 1900s. He also served as a director of the 11th District Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. He was a leader in the joint U.S.-Mexico effort to construct a dam and reservoir at Elephant Butte on the Rio Grande. Completed in 1916, the dam modernized agriculture and helped control flooding throughout the Rio Grande Valley. In 1913, Martinez was named U.S. Commissioner General to South America by President Wilson. He traveled across the continent, strengthening diplomatic ties and soliciting participation in the panama-pacific international exposition in San Francisco in 1915. He continued as commissioner general until his premature death of pneumonia in 1916.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Magoffin Home State Historic Site — 0.8 mi
  A U-shaped adobe of the 1870s in central El Paso that joins Mexican building to an Anglo plan, closed for restoration through 2027 while its visitor center stays open.
• Chamizal National Memorial — 2.1 mi
  A park on land the Rio Grande once put in dispute, where a century-old border quarrel between the United States and Mexico was settled by treaty and a new concrete channel.
• Ysleta Mission (Corpus Christi de la Ysleta del Sur) — 11 mi
  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 — 11 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.

More markers nearby

• Hotel Paso Del Norte — steps away
• Pioneer Plaza — steps away
• This Block was the Site of the Stage Station — steps away
• El Camino Real (The King's Highway) — steps away