El Paso had been settled for centuries by the Indians before the arrival of Spanish explorers and colonists in the 1500s. For the next 300 years, it remained a frontier town inhabited largely by border traders and Hispanic farmers living in adobe huts. The arrival of the railroads in 1881 and 1882 transformed El Paso into a western boomtown and a modern city. Mexican adobe huts, El Paso, Texas, 1887, Prints and Photographs Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. #1/26-2. Myrtle Avenue, El Paso. Undated, early 20th century. Postcards of Texas Collection, Prints and Photographs Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. #1961/8-104. Back to exhibit |
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