Magoffinsville

Joseph Magoffin, who built the 1875 house here, was born in Chihuahua in 1837 and joined his father at El Paso in 1856. A secessionist like his father, he served on Henry H. Sibley's staff in New Mexico, fought at Seven Pines and became commissary general west of the Mississippi. He kept books after the war until he won back the family land in 1873. He helped incorporate El Paso that year and was elected mayor four times.

What the plaque says

Magoffinsville One of four population centers during the early period of American settlement of the present El Paso area, Magoffinsville was founded by Kentucky native James Wiley Magoffin (1799-1868). In 1849, he began acquiring land in this vicinity. The headquarters of his property was at Magoffin and Willow streets (10 blks. E). There he built a large home and buildings to serve his trading, ranching, and farming activities. Magoffinsville became the center of social and business activities for the area and travelers often were given rest in the Magoffin home. From 1854 until 1868, Fort Bliss, a United States Army post, was located at Magoffinsville on leased land. During the Civil War, Magoffin's property was confiscated by Federal forces and his home was badly damaged. After the war, Magoffin, in poor health, moved to San Antonio, where he died in 1868. The following year his widow, Dolores, and eldest son, Joseph, regained some of the property. Joseph began selling parcels of the land and by 1873 was an organizer of the El Paso Real Estate Trust and Immigration Company. His home at this site (1110 Magoffin Avenue), although not a part of Magoffinsville, was built in 1875 in the style of the original Magoffin Home. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Magoffin Home State Historic Site — steps away
  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 — 1.4 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) — 10 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

• Robert Ewing Thomason — 0.5 mi
• William Ward Turney and Iva Guthrie Turney — 0.6 mi
• El Paso and Southwestern Railroad Building — 0.6 mi
• First Baptist Church of El Paso — 0.6 mi