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Abdou
Building, image from the Aultman Collection, provided by the
El Paso Public Library
Abdou Building
El Paso, Texas
Research Packet and
Narrative by:
Adriana Davidson
Dr. George D. Torok
Honors Project
Spring 2002
National Endowment for the
Humanities Historical Markers Project
Historical Narrative:
Abdou Building 115 North Mesa Street
The
Abdou Building is a seven story commercial and retail structure
located on 115 North Mesa Street in downtown El Paso. It is a fine
example of a modern, “Sullivanesque” commercial structure of the early
20th century and was designed by renowned architect Henry
C. Trost.
The
structure retains much of its original exterior appearance and was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The
building was designed and constructed in 1909-10 as a new site for the
offices of the Rio Grande Valley Bank which had outgrown its
facilities in the nearby Buckler Building. It was designed by renowned
El Paso architect Henry C. Trost (1860-1933). Trost was the principle
designer for the architectural firm Trost and Trost. He arrived in El
Paso in 1903 and during the next thirty years he developed some of the
region’s most striking and unique buildings. Trost was greatly
influenced by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and mastered a
wide variety of popular building styles. He was also a pioneer in the
use of reinforced concrete. He designed more than 650 buildings in the
Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, 200 of them in El
Paso, during his career.
Originally, the building was to be six stories and completed in January
1910. During construction it was decided to split the second level into
two floors so the project deadline was extended until March 1910. The
structure cost 60,000 dollars to complete and opened on schedule in
March. The Rio Grande Valley Bank and Trust occupied the first floor and
leased the upper stories for commercial offices.
In 1925, the structure was purchased by prominent El Paso businessman
Sam N. Abdou (1875-1953), a Syrian immigrant who had begun a small dry
goods business in El Paso in the 1890s and later invested in cold
storage facilities, banking, and east Texas oil. The building was leased
to the American Trust and Savings Bank where Abdou served as director
until the Bank’s demise during the Great Depression. Despite the
collapse of the bank, Abdou personally saw that each depositor be
reimbursed for the full value of the funds that they had placed in the
bank.
After the bank closed, retailers rented much of the space in what had
become known as the Abdou Building. In 1955, the Zales Company became
the most prominent tenant.
The
Abdou Building is a significant structure because it was designed by
Trost who made extensive use of reinforced concrete in the structure and
decorative design of the building.
It is
an excellent example of a western skyscraper of the early 20th
century with stark but modernistic detailing. It shows the influences
of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and is cited as being
“Sullivanesque” in design.
Some of the building’s features have been modified over the years. The
arches have been filled in with reflective glass and the interior has
undergone a series of renovations.
The building has been recognized as being architecturally significant
several times. In 1978 it was included in a city inventory of historic
sites, designated as a Local Historic Landmark, and was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
.Lloyd
C. and June Marie F. Englebrecht, Henry C. Trost: Architect of
the Southwest (El Paso, TX 1981), 31-35.
.
El Paso (TX) Herald, Apr. 23, 1910.
.
El Paso (TX) Times, Nov. 11, 1953;
.
Lorrie K. Owen, ed., Dictionary of Texas Historic Places (New
York, 1996), I, 314; El Paso Times, Aug. 16, 1964.
.Owen,
Dictionary of Historic Places, I, 314; n.a., “Abdou
Building,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form
(1980), 3.
.
El Paso (TX) City Ordinance No. 6279 cited in letter from Mayor Ray
Salazar to Sam Abdou Jr., Aug. 21, 1978.
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