Felix Martinez
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the early twentieth century, Felix Martinez was a prominent Hispanic businessman who worked closely with Anglo American leaders to transform El Paso into a major commercial, industrial and agricultural center of the American Southwest. Born in 1857 in the frontier town of Peñasco, New Mexico, Martinez was elected to the New Mexico Territorial House of Representatives and Territorial Council, where he fostered economic development, educational reform and public health. He published La Voz del Pueblo from 1890 to 1916, which became the leading Spanish-language newspaper in the territory. After moving to El Paso in 1897, Martinez co-established the El Paso Electric Railway company, which brought electricity to many of the city’s homes and businesses. He helped found the El Paso Realty Company, owned the El Paso Daily News (1899-1907) and contributed to the construction of today’s Centre Building (formerly the White House Department Store and Hotel McCoy) on Pioneer Plaza. Martinez worked with reformers to rid the city of gambling, crime and prostitution in the early 1900s. He also served as a director of the 11th District Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. He was a leader in the joint U.S.-Mexico effort to construct a dam and reservoir at Elephant Butte on the Rio Grande. Completed in 1916, the dam modernized agriculture and helped control flooding throughout the Rio Grande Valley. In 1913, Martinez was named U.S. Commissioner General to South America by President Wilson. He traveled across the continent, strengthening diplomatic ties and soliciting participation in the panama-pacific international exposition in San Francisco in 1915. He continued as commissioner general until his premature death of pneumonia in 1916.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Felix Martinez rose from the frontier village of Peñasco, New Mexico, to become one of the most influential Hispanic leaders of the early-twentieth-century Southwest. He served in New Mexico's territorial legislature and published the leading Spanish-language newspaper, La Voz del Pueblo, before moving to El Paso in 1897. There he helped bring electric streetcars and power to the city, backed the Elephant Butte Dam that transformed Rio Grande agriculture, and was named a U.S. commissioner to South America by President Wilson before his death in 1916.
Why it matters
Martinez exemplifies the Hispanic entrepreneurs and reformers who built the modern Southwest, bridging Anglo and Mexican-American communities in a rapidly growing borderland city.
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Related people
- · Felix Martinez
Related events
- · Construction of Elephant Butte Dam
- · Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Themes & tags
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