The University of Texas at El Paso

The campus looks like a Himalayan monastery because of Kathleen L. Worrell, wife of the school's first dean. An author, journalist and amateur architect, she proposed the Bhutanese designs, which El Paso architect Charles Gibson first drew up. The regents bought his plans and gave them to Henry Trost, who designed the first five buildings. The Handbook calls it the only collection of Bhutanese-style buildings in the Western Hemisphere, and new buildings have followed it since 1917.

What the plaque says

The University of Texas at El Paso traces its history to April 16, 1913, when the Texas Legislature approved the creation of a State School of Mines and Metallurgy. The board of regents of the University of Texas formally established the school one year later. The citizens of El Paso donated land east of Fort Bliss for the school. The site included buildings of the former El Paso Military Institute. Following a fire in October 1916, the college was moved to this location. By the end of 1918 five buildings had been completed in an architectural style imitating that of the Himalayan country of Bhutan. Designated a branch of the University of Texas in 1919, the College of Mines and Metallurgy added liberal arts courses and by 1931 offered a bachelor of arts degree. Further expansions led to a master of arts degree program in 1940 and a doctoral degree program in 1974. The name was changed to Texas Western College in 1949, and to the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967. The institution's campus, with its mountain setting and distinctive architecture, is unique among the state's colleges. (1989)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Magoffin Home State Historic Site — 1.7 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 — 2.9 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.
• Franklin Mountains State Park — 12 mi
  Almost 27,000 acres of desert mountains inside El Paso, with the oldest rocks in Texas, more than 100 miles of trail and campsites in the Tom Mays Unit.
• Ysleta Mission (Corpus Christi de la Ysleta del Sur) — 12 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.

More markers nearby

• Sunset Heights — 0.5 mi
• 1966 Texas Western Basketball National Champions — 0.5 mi
• Olga Kohlberg — 0.6 mi
• Captain James W. Magoffin, Major Simeon Hart — 0.7 mi