Located in downtown El Paso, the El Paso Museum of History contains 44,000 square feet of fascinating historical exhibitions. It covers the past 400 years of American history, focusing on the United States/Mexico border region, also known as The Pass of the North. For the past 46 years, the museum and its curators have been committed to the historical and cultural education of its many visitors – and though currently closed, are looking forward to reopening as soon as it is safe to do so.
History of the El Paso Museum of History
The museum was established in 1974 as a cavalry museum. It contained detailed exhibits about America’s history with horses and was certainly a must-see for horse lovers. However, it soon became apparent that the museum’s scope extended far beyond equestrian matters. The museum was rich in historical information, and so in 1980, its name was officially changed to the El Paso Museum of History.
In the year 2000, the museum got the approval for $6.5 million in funding for a new building – one that would be worthy of the museum’s content. The new building was credited with “helping rejuvenate downtown El Paso.”
Exhibits
The museum contains two permanent exhibits: El Paso A-to-Z and Changing Pass. There’s also a great deal of space set aside for temporary exhibits. A recent exhibition was Power of the Southwest: 120 Years of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, which highlighted the Chamber’s role in local and national history. Another was Tracks Across the Desert: More Than 100 Years of Railroad in El Paso, which explored the role the railroad played in shaping modern-day El Paso.
El Paso A-to-Z
Though spatially quite small, there is a wealth of information to be found in this permanent exhibit. It contains a large number of artifacts as well as an impressive, real-life model of one of the original steam cars.
Changing Pass: People, Land & Memory
This is the first exhibition that visitors are greeted with when they walk through the door. It provides comprehensive information about the El Paso del Norte region, beginning with the early indigenous settlers and concluding with the 20th century ASARCO. Through artifacts, interactive displays, and text panels, visitors learn how the many social, cultural, political, religious, and environmental factors of years gone by have come to define El Paso.
Digital Wall
When it was implemented in February of 2015, this state-of-the-art digital wall, known as ‘Digie’, was the first of its kind in the United States. The wall is made up of five 95 inch touch screens, offering a three-dimensional, interactive view of El Paso as it was at various points of history, going back to the late 1600s. Users can interact with the wall by touching the images to extract information, or just by searching for points of interest.
When it comes to the United States/Mexico border region, this museum is a historical gold mine. Lots to read, lots to look at, and plenty of interaction to make things all the more exciting – learn something new today!
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