Memories of "old" Downtown El Paso (Dallas, San Antonio: 2014, renting)

[XChucoresident]

The old Popular Dept Store..is now a Falles Paredes..as for the Old White House..last time I went to EL Paso..the whole building was being remodeled..I also remember those days..My mother worked at the DeSoto Hotel and we would eat the tacos at Newberry's..then we would take the bus back home in front of the Post Office..both my mother and those days are gone forever now..!!..but I STILL manage to go back home every 2 or 3 months..!

[gallerr]

Originally Posted by XChucoresident

The old Popular Dept Store..is now a Falles Paredes..as for the Old White House..last time I went to EL Paso..the whole building was being remodeled..I also remember those days..My mother worked at the DeSoto Hotel and we would eat the tacos at Newberry's..then we would take the bus back home in front of the Post Office..both my mother and those days are gone forever now..!!..but I STILL manage to go back home every 2 or 3 months..!

Same here...we used to take the bus from the lower valley to Basset Center, then to Downtown El Paso...shop at The Popular, White House (which was considered trendy $$) , Kress, Woolworth, Newberry's..and Star Disco - the record store...there also used to be a ..well was it a Harmony Shop, where you could buy 45 RPM's. Kress was the coolest store ever. The buliding is still very cool there but needs restoration badly. The old White House Building and the Mills are all very cool looking buildings too.
Things were so much better back then ! WE would also eat at the Coney Island across the street from La Pacita !

[wblakeney]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

LOL, Rich. That Farah Outlet was much later, if I remember. This was back in the 50's and 60's. We lived in the Clardy Fox area and Fox Plaza was a fairly nice shopping center. J.C. Penny's and Parkins Cafeteria. I think there was a Piggly Wiggly there as well. The orginal Pancho's Buffet was down Alemeda and you could have all you could eat for $1. There was more quanity than quality, in my opinion. Shortly after that, they moved out to McRae. Then there was one on Mesa across from Resler but it didn't last long, as I remember. I wonder if anyone remembers La Paloma down in Second Ward. You could get a big Mexican Plate for 85 cents. LOL. And they had the BEST flour tortillas. They later moved out to Dyer st.

I too grew up in Clardy Fox on Barcelona. I remember when Fox Plaza was built. The Piggly Wiggly started out as Food Mart. Next to it was Gunning-Castel Drugs, then White's Auto. We ate at Parkins Cafeteria a lot, I had forgotten the name. Next to it was a Rayburn's mens clothing store.

[wblakeney]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

Yes, I remember when people thought that houses in Cielo Vista Park ( the newer section) were $29K and that was expensive!! .

My parents bought a 2,100 Sq. Ft. house in Cielo Vista Park for $25,000 in 1965. We were living in Clardy Fox and my dad hated to move. The house had cost $10,000 in 1952 and he spent $6,000 in 1960 adding a den on the back. My mother worked at the EPISD office and saw all these transfer requests for students that lived in the Chamizal area. They managed to get $13,000 for the house but some of our neighbors who didn't move got stuck there because they couldn't even get $7,000 for their house.

[wblakeney]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

Wasn't the theater that joqua was talking about the Crawford? I seem to remember that as one of the movie venues downtown. I also remember the original Oasis by the Plaza Theater. There also used to be the Mills restaurant next to the Oasis there and they had the room that is now the bar in the Plaza that had stars in it as well. Nobody has said anything about the Crown Room in the White House. That was quite a fancy place to eat lunch or desert. My mother was too cheap to pay for parking so we parked in the White House Parking lot on Santa Fe next to the Railroad underground tracks. You could have your ticket stamped at the WH for free. It was quite a hike, especially from the Popular. I also remember the Russell Stover's candy store on Mesa below the plaza. It had those purple mirrors on the outside. How about the TriState Music company with the piano up in the air with sparkles on it on Mesa where the Continental Bank is now. The underground bathrooms at the Plaza always scared me, plus they smelled. Who knows what went on in there. LOL The American Furniture Store at the end of Texas St. was a high class place as well. Mom bought several pieces of furniture there. There also was Michele's Magic Shop where the Camino Real is now. My brother and I bought several scale model cars there. The place was a hole in the wall but filled to the rafters. LOL My parents bought a couple of cars from Watkins Chevrolet on San Antoinio ?? It is where the Civic Center is now.

My dad used to buy cars from Watkins Chevrolet, they kept the cars on the 2nd floor and brought them down in a big elevator. That was not Michele's Magic shop but Marlin's Magic Shop owned by Marlin Haynes a local magician who did shows at schools. And the place was just a hole in the wall, very small place for patrons to stand.

[atrabilius]

Originally Posted by wblakeney

My mother worked at the EPISD office and saw all these transfer requests for students that lived in the Chamizal area.

I know that South Latta Street used to run further south than it now does, into what is now Juarez, and that there was a neighborhood around the southern end of Latta on Cordova Island. Also, the numbered east-west streets in Segundo Barrio which now go up to Ninth Avenue used to go up to Thirteenth Avenue; Tenth to Thirteenth Avenues and the blocks of South Tays Street, South Park Street, etc. that used to cross them got handed over to Mexico along with the houses around the southern end of Latta as a result of the Chamizal Treaty because they ended up south of the Rio Grande when the river changed course.

[EBoal]

Does anyone remember The Mills Restaurant by The White House? How about Michael's Cafe that was in business for 50 years downtown? I will always remember the aligators and how I loved going to that park at Christmas time.

[LEVOW]

Originally Posted by mistabinks

No. He is not talking about that one. As I replied earlier, the daughter of the original Coney Island owner opened up a new Coney Island near Executive.

I took my kiddos, and it was ok, didn't have that "wow" factor, I wasn't too crazy about it, n it was kinda over priced for hot dogs

[75grad]

Can anybody identify some of the streets and buildings in this 1923 photo of Downtown El Paso? From the sun's angle, I think we're looking east.

[katzpaw]

Looking North-Northwest: