El Paso is the county seat of El Paso County in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 563,662. El Paso, second only to San Diego, California, in size among all U.S. cities on the U.S.-Mexico border--lies opposite Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua. The two cities form a bi-national metropolitan area of approximately two million people, divided by the Rio Grande (Ro Bravo del Norte).
El Paso is home to The University of Texas at El Paso (founded 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy, received university status 1967). Fort Bliss, a major United States Army installation, lies to the east and northeast of the city, extending north up to the White Sands Missile Range. The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections.
El Paso is served by El Paso International Airport, I-10, U.S. Highway 54, and Mexican Federal Highway 45 (Cesar Chavez Highway).
As of the census of 2000, there are 563,662 people, 182,063 households, and 141,098 families residing in the city. The population density is 873.7/km2 (2,263.0/mi2). There are 193,663 housing units at an average density of 300.2/km2 (777.5/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 73.28% White, 3.12% African American, 0.82% Native American, 1.12% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 18.15% from other races, and 3.40% from two or more races. 76.62% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 182,063 households, out of which 42.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% are married couples living together, 18.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% are non-families. 19.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.07 and the average family size is 3.54.
In the city the population is spread out with 31.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $32,124, and the median income for a family is $35,432. Males have a median income of $28,989 versus $21,540 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,388. 22.2% of the population and 19.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 29.8% of those under the age of 18 and 17.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Archeological evidence at the Keystone Wetlands and Hueco Tanks sites indicates thousands of years of human settlement within the El Paso region. The Manso, Suma and Jumano Indians were identified as present by the earliest Spanish explorers. These people ultimately became assimilated into the local settler population, becoming part of the Mestizo culture that is prevalent in Mexico and is visible throughout the Southwest. Others integrated themselves with the different Mescalero Apache bands that for many years roamed the region.
El Paso del Norte (the present day Ciudad Jurez), was founded on the south bank of the Rio Grande in 1659. Agriculture flourished and vineyards and fruits comprised the bulk of the regional production. The Spanish Crown and the local authorities of El Paso del Norte had made several land concesions to bring agricultural production to the northern bank of the river in present day El Paso. However, the Apaches dissuaded production and settlers to cross the river. The water provided a natural defense against them.
The first successful agricultural enterprise that we have records on was Ponce de Len Ranch. The land was granted in 1825. Although American traders and trappers had visited the area since 1823, American settlers began to stay for good after the Mexican Cession in 1848. During the Texas Republic period, the area belonged to the Mexican State of Chihuahua.
A trading post called Franklin was established during this time some miles away from Ponce's Ranch. Other settlements were also scattered across the region and eventually became part of El Paso itself. Ciudad Juarez dropped the old name of El Paso del Norte and El Paso, Texas kept it.
El Paso was platted in 1859, but grew slowly when the railroads came in 1881. The population had grown to 10,000 by the 1890 census.
During the late 1880s and 1890s, El Paso acquired a reputation as a lawless and violent "wild west" town. The most notorious local figure was John Wesley Hardin. Hardin was gunned down inside the Acme Saloon on a warm evening of August 19, 1895. Violence-hardened Constable John Selman killed Hardin and became famous virtually overnight as Hardin's killer. Prior to the O.K. Corral gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona Terriotory between the Earp Brothers/McLaury Brothers, El Paso was the site of the infamous "Four Dead in Five Seconds" gunfight on April 14, 1881. An imposing and towering figure of City Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire virtually intimidated all outlaws into hiding and controlled this wild and violent town with an iron hand in a short duration. El Paso became civilized after his arrival in early 1881. Prostitution and gambling flourished until World War I, when the Department of the Army pressured El Paso authorities to crack down on vice. Many of these activities continued to flourish in neighboring Ciudad Jurez, especially during the Prohibition, when bars and saloons on the Mexican side flourished.
The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) began in 1910, and Ciudad Jurez was the focus of intense fighting. Occasionally, stray shots killed civilians on the El Paso side. El Paso became a center of intrigue as various exiled leaders including Victoriano Huerta and (for a time) Pancho Villa were seen in the city. General John Joseph Pershing was stationed at Fort Bliss, and mounted his ill fated expedition against Pancho Villa after the infamous raid on Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916. The cavalry under Pershing were paid in gold, in competition with Pancho Villa, who offered $50 per machine gun. (When World War I began, Pershing's cavalry had to remain in the Army for the duration of the war, and were no longer paid in gold.).
After World War II, Werner von Braun and other German rocket scientists were brought to Fort Bliss in El Paso, along with many of the V2 rockets and rocket parts, starting the American rocket program; they were later moved to Huntsville, Alabama. One V2 rocket is still on display at Fort Bliss.
From World War II until the 1980s, El Paso boomed into a sprawling city. The expansion of Fort Bliss from a frontier post to a major Cold War military center brought in thousands of soldiers, dependents, and retirees. The industrial economy was dominated by copper smelting, oil refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries (particularly garment making), which drew thousands of Mexican immigrants. New housing subdivisions were built, expanding El Paso far to the west, northeast and east of its original core areas.
In 1963, the U.S. agreed to cede a long-disputed part of El Paso to Mexico due to changes in the course of the Rio Grande, which forms the international boundary between the two countries. The area boundaries were rationalized and the Rio Grande was re-channelled. A former island in the river was re-developed. The Chamizal National Memorial, administered by the National Park Service is now a major park in El Paso; El Chamizal is the corresponding park in Jurez.
Since 1990, the local economy has been adversely affected by competition with low wage labor abroad, and the closure of the main copper smelter. The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement has been a mixed blessing, with local transport, retail, and service firms expanding, but with the accelerated loss of many industrial jobs. El Paso is very sensitive to changes in the Mexican economy and the regulation of cross border traffic; the Mexican peso devaluation of late 1994 and the temporary closing of the ports of entry and subsequent stringent controls of cross border traffic after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack were felt strongly in El Paso.
Since the 1849 establishment of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area, El Paso has seen a boom in population. More recently, the BRAC commission has marked the base to receive more the 18,000 troops, which is estimated to add 547 million dollars to the El Paso economy. El Paso is also home to the El Paso International Airport and a high school dedicated to Captain John L. Chapin.
Source:
ElPaso-USA.com
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