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The Lowenstein Family: Pioneer Family of Ysleta.

Moritz Lowenstein was born in Westphalia, Germany, he immigrated to the United States in the 1850s. He first came to the El Paso area in 1863 while working for the Federal Government. In 1873 he married Juana Buchanan, daughter of James Buchanan and Magdalena De Diaz. James was a U.S.Consul in Mexico and Moritz worked […]

Identified: David Hernandez and Jose Hernandez Jr.

We have identified these two photos as brothers David Hernandez and Jose Hernandez through David’s son, one of eight children, Michael Hernandez. Michael wrote: Yup, that’s my dad and my uncle Jose. Jose was older that my dad and died at the “Battle Of The Bulge.” He go shot as he was parachuting down and […]

pebble-hills

Pebble Hills Elementary: Home of the Bobcats

Pebble Hills was financed by a bond approved by voters in 1979 and in 1980 the Ysleta Independent School District opened the school at 11145 Edgemere Boulevard. A new addition was built to Pebble Hills in 1990 and the mascot is the bobcat. Walter Cross was the first principal. Cross taught at Marian Manor Elementary […]

drury-bird

Drury Bird: El Paso’s defender of animals

Drury Bird was born in Clarksville, Texas and grew up in El Paso, she was a foster child, being the adopted daughter of  the Cass Family. She was adopted by the Cass family after the death of her parents in a car accident. Bird  was close to her adopted sister, Marie Cass and the two lived together at 2811 […]

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varela

Ester Varela: El Paso’s First Women Justice of the Peace.

In 1940 Ester Welch Varela was elected the first woman Justice of the Peace in El Paso County, defeating the long-time incumbent, T.H. Apodaca. Varela was reelected in 1942 and retired in 1944. Varela was born in Oklahoma. Joseph Longo EPHS Curator CURATOR@ELPASOHISTORY.COM.

historica-society

Curator’s Corner: Early Presidents of the EPCHS

Doing research on an exhibit for the Society on the past presidents of the El Paso Historical Historical Society, I found a newspaper article that talks about the early presidents of the society. It was published on April 23,1964 in the El Paso Herald-Post. The Society has the original photo that was used in the article. […]

hanks

Curator Corner: Dedication of J.M. Hanks High School

While I was archiving some material into our Pass Perfect  Archive Database, I found the Dedication and Open House program for J.M. Hanks High School on 2001 Lee Trevino Dr. The high school was established in 1978  and  it started off as a junior high school. The first  graduating class was in 1982. The actual building […]

Early El Paso Women Fire Fighters

El Paso’s first woman firefighter was Karla Paige Bedell-Wingfield. She graduated from the El Paso Fire Academy in April of 1993. Wingfield was the first woman in the 100 history of the El Paso Fire Department to do so. Wingfield later went on to become a nurse practitioner, practicing in El Paso. Stephanie Hornbuckle joined Wingfield as a […]

J.J. Smith: Lower Valley Farmer and Politican

J.J. Smith came to El Paso with his family to from Illinois. Smith settled in Ysleta in the early 1900s where he founded the Ysleta Pear Packing Plant. He had two pear orchards on North Loop near Roseway in Ysleta. He also set up a residence for himself, his mother, sister and her husband, George Huffman, […]