Chihuahuita
El Paso, Texas
Research Packet and Narrative by:
Fred Morales
Jamie Carter
Dr. George D. Torok
Honors Project
Spring 2002
National Endowment for the Humanities Historical Markers Project
Chihuahuita
Chihuahuita, El Paso’s smallest and oldest neighborhood, has played
an important part in the city’s development for more than 400 years.
There were scattered Manso Indian settlements in the late 16th
century and the area became an important part of the farming and
irrigation system developed by the Spaniards. In 1818, Ricardo
Brusuelas received a land grant from the Spanish and established a
ranch here and irrigated his land from the nearby “acequia de Chamizal.”
Although lightly populated, this area was the site of a popular ford
on the Rio Grande frequented by travelers on the Camino Real and
Chihuahua Trail. Although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo made the
river the international boundary between Mexico and the United States,
placing Chihuahuita in American El Paso, the essential character of
the area changed little. As many of the settlers came from across the
river in the state of Chihuahua, the area became known as Chihuahuita
or “little Chihuahua.”
Chihuahuita grew with the arrival of the Santa Fe
Railroad in 1881. It became a crowded urban neighborhood and was
designated the First Ward of El Paso in 1887. The railroad and
businesses such as the El Paso Laundry Company on Seventh Street
brought jobs to the area. The wooden Santa Fe Bridge was constructed
connecting Chihuahuita with Ciudad Juarez becoming the main entry way
for goods and people into El Paso. The neighborhood suffered from this
burst of activities and soon experienced overcrowding, sanitation, and
housing problems. Jacales, or shacks, and hastily constructed adobe
buildings lined its unpaved streets.The
Mexican Revolution of brought large numbers of people north, many into
Chihuahuita. Tenements housed many of the refugees by the end of the
1910s. The neighborhood was often the site of political intrigues as
revolutionaries organized activities. Agents of Francisco Madero,
Victoriano Huerta, and Pancho Villa organized armies and planned
strategies here. Many of Chihuahuita’s buildings also provided a good
vantage point to view the fighting in Ciudad Juarez.
The close proximity to Ciudad Juarez made
Chihuahuita a center for the smuggling of alcohol during the era of
prohibition. Bootleggers and organized criminals established
themselves there constructing tunnels and passageways across the
border. The area’s decline continued in the decades ahead. While other
areas of El Paso developed in the 1940s and 1950s, Chihuahuita was
forgotten. It was plagued with crime, social problems, and dilapidated
buildings.
Chihuahuita also became an important center of illegal alien activity.
undocumented workers and the U.S. Border Patrol in the 1970s. The
notorious “Puente Negro,” a railroad bridge between Ciudad Juarez and
Chihuahuita, became one of the primary entryways into El Paso. Clashes
between Mexican nationals and U.S. Border Patrol agents led to several
deaths. The bridge was finally closed in 1976, but its reputation
lives on in a popular border corrido.
In
the 1970s, the Chihuahuita Improvement Association was formed and the
neighborhood began to experience a comeback. Grants and loans were
obtained to renovate housing, raze buildings, develop a small park,
and clean debris from the area. In 1991, the City of El Paso
designated Chihuahuita as a historic district. Today there remains
many structures from the late 19th and early 20th
century that reflect the railroad history, business development,
Mexican Revolution, tenement era, and immigrant history. Today,
Chihuahuita remains a quiet, often overlooked part of the city, rich
in history, architecture, and heritage.
Suggested Marker Text: Chihuahuita
Chihuahuita was settled by Ricardo Brusuelas who received a land grant
from Spanish authorities in 1818 and developed a prosperous ranch.
After 1848 when the Rio Grande became an international boundary new
settlers arrived to farm the land. With coming of the Santa Fe
Railroad in 1881, Chihuahuita began to grow dramatically. It developed
as a crowded urban area and was designated as the city’s First Ward in
1887 A few years later, the wooden Santa Fe Bridge connected the
thriving neighborhood to Ciudad Juarez. Area businesses developed and
offered employment.
The
Mexican Revolution of 1910 brought a surge of refugees north, many to
Chihuahuita. The area swarmed with new arrivals, became a center of
revolutionary intrigue, and offered good views of the fighting across
the river. But Chihuahuita also became an overcrowded, neglected area
plagued with housing and sanitation problems. Bootleggers and
organized criminals took advantage of the nearby border and made
Chihuahuita an important center for smuggling by the 1920s. In later
decades other parts of El Paso boomed and developed, but Chihuahuita
was forgotten. By the 1950s decaying buildings, crime, and social
problems took a heavy toll.
The
1970s saw the formation of the Chihuahuita Improvement Association and
things began to change. Debirs was removed, buildings reconstructed, a
small park was built and the neighborhood experienced renewal. In
1991, because of its long and significant history, Chihuahuita was
declared an historic district by the City of El Paso.
.
Fred Morales, “Chihuahuita: A Neglected Corner of El Paso,”
Password 34 (Spring 1991), 23-25; City of El Paso Department of
Planning, Research & Development, Chihuahuita Historic District
( El Paso, TX, 1995), 3-8.
.
Mario T. Garcia, Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of
El Paso, 1880-1920
(New Haven, CN, 1981), 273n; Frederick Katz,
The Life and Times of Pancho Villa (Stanford, CA, 1998), 186-89.
.
Morales, “Chihuahuita,” 34.
