Old El Paso vs New El Paso

Just the other day, a friend asked me to answer a few questions for a young student concerning El Paso and the period surrounding the arrival of the rail roads.  The difficulty of this written interview was not so much writing the history, but in boiling it down into small bite sized morsels.  Some of the questions asked though really set me off on to comparisons to present day El Paso and 19^th century El Paso. 

A couple of questions asked about trade and commerce here in El Paso.  I did a quick piece about how it was basically not all that different from today.  The larger stores had set prices and required cash on hand to make purchases.  Some of the smaller stores and street vendors expected one to haggle for a price.  There were no credit cards per se, but if you were settled in town, one might be able to arrange a charge account at one of the larger stores.

As I was writing this, I was trying to find modern contrasts and comparisons.  Now don’t take me wrong.  I am not intending to be insulting or degrading, but south El Paso Street is a prime example of how commerce may have been carried out in 19^th century El Paso.  There are stores hawking all sorts of goods from clothing to hardware.  Mixed in there along the way are a few bakeries and green grocers.  The main difference I see between the 21^st and 19^th century signs is that the modern ones have less spelling errors.  It does not take much imagination to walk along the streets, say south of Overland, and get a feel of what the railroad days much have felt like.  The hustle and bustle of activity,  Mama with children in tow doing her shopping.  I’m sorry, but that is what gives El Paso her “flavor” as far as I am concerned.

I know that some of the folks behind the Downtown Revitalization Plan would prefer we make that all go away.  Clear the sidewalks of the sidewalk sales, and vendors.  Remove the obnoxious, garish signage.  Replace it all with neat and prime high end chain stores.  Fine and dandy iffn you want to look like any other city in the southwest.  Those shops and stores downtown are what made El Paso. They are what have kept the downtown going since the creation of the mall and internet shopping.  They are also one of the last tangible vestiges of a day long gone, a tie to our past.  I know one real bone of contention is the flea market on Oregon and Pisano Drive.  True it is dirty, and the local cops really should enforce the litter and trash ordinances.  Want to watch the mayor and city council turn green in the gills? Point out that that flea market has been there pretty much since 1888.  Yes I said: 1888.  In looking over the Sanborn fire maps of that year, at the northern end of that same block are structures marked by dotted lines.  The annotation states that they are Mexican tents selling hardware, vegetables and dry good.  This translates into flea market to me.

Well enough rambling for now.  Until next time, take care, God bless, and keep your powder dry!