Old San Francisco Historic District

The apartments went up while El Paso was turning from a frontier town into a city. It had 15,906 people in 1900, 39,279 in 1910 and 77,560 in 1925, swelled by refugees from the Mexican Revolution. After 1900 the town set out to shed its frontier image, and in 1905 it finally passed ordinances closing its gambling houses and brothels, a goal reformers had pressed since the 1890s. Standard Oil of Texas, Texaco and Phelps Dodge then built major refineries in the city in 1928 and 1929.

What the plaque says

Old San Francisco Historic District Composed primarily of early twentieth-century residential apartment buildings, this historic neighborhood was developed during a period of major growth in El Paso. Most of the structures were built of brick, stone, or wood between 1908 and 1923 and feature similar architectural elements. The name of the district is taken from the likeness of the hilly terrain to that of San Francisco, California. In addition, the area was developed on what was the northern side of the El Paso - San Francisco Stage Route during the 1800s. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Magoffin Home State Historic Site — 1.1 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 — 2.5 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 — 12 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

• Bataan Memorial Trainway — steps away
• El Paso & Southwestern Railroad Locomotive Number One — 0.2 mi
• Felix Martinez — 0.4 mi
• Pioneer Plaza — 0.4 mi