San Jacinto Plaza
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1857, W. T. Smith sold his property which he called the "town of El Paso" for $6500.00. The buyers were J. S. and H. S. Gillette, J. F. Crosby, J. W. Morton and V. St. Vrain; they had it surveyed by Anson Mills. The map showed downtown El Paso much as it is today, including a public square which they donated to the future city of El Paso, Incorporated in 1873. This plot of ground, a haven for the weary traveler, has seen and heard the life of this area march by since Spanish colonial times. It saw rumbling ox-drawn carts, the first U.S. soldiers, covered wagons. Then Jeff Davis's Camel Corps, stage coaches, the blast of six-guns and the first locomotive whistles, and law and order emerging. The years brought concerts, political and patriotic speeches, presidents visiting and marching soldiers of our wars. It was designated "The Plaza" by the 1889 city fathers, but the 1902 council permanently and officially named it San Jacinto Plaza. Presented by The State National Bank of El Paso, Texas 30 July 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This downtown El Paso square has watched the crossroads of the Southwest pass by since Spanish colonial times. When a group of buyers purchased and platted the townsite in 1857, they set aside this public plot and later donated it to the incorporated city — a shady resting place that saw ox carts, covered wagons, Jefferson Davis's experimental Camel Corps, stagecoaches, and the first railroad whistles. In 1902 the city fathers permanently named it San Jacinto Plaza.
Why it matters
Few spots so vividly compress the layered history of the borderlands — Spanish, Mexican, and American — into a single town square at the pass between two nations.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
El Paso sits at one of the great natural crossroads of North America, a pass through the mountains along the Rio Grande. For centuries before American settlement, travelers moved through here on routes connecting the Spanish settlements of New Mexico with the interior of Mexico. Spanish colonial missions and settlements grew up along the river in the late 1600s.
After the U.S.–Mexican War ended in 1848, the Rio Grande became an international border, and the north bank became American territory. Through the 1850s, a small American settlement developed here, serving soldiers, traders, and emigrants headed west, including many bound for the California gold fields.
The decades that followed brought rapid change. Stagecoach lines connected the region to the rest of the country, and the Civil War disrupted it. Then, in 1881, railroads arrived and transformed a remote frontier outpost into a growing city. All of that history passed by the plot of ground that became San Jacinto Plaza.
People & events
In 1857, W. T. Smith sold the property he called the "town of El Paso" to a group of buyers for $6,500. The new owners, J. S. and H. S. Gillette, J. F. Crosby, J. W. Morton, and V. St. Vrain, hired a young surveyor named Anson Mills to lay it out. His map set the shape of downtown El Paso much as you see it today. It included a public square that the owners donated to the future city, which was incorporated in 1873.
Mills went on to a long career as a U.S. Army officer, and he remained closely tied to El Paso's history. But his survey may be his most lasting gift to the city, because the street grid and the square at its heart came from his work.
The marker paints a vivid parade of the life that passed this spot: creaking ox-drawn carts, the first U.S. soldiers, and covered wagons. It also mentions the Army's experimental Camel Corps of the 1850s, which was promoted while Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War. Stagecoaches, gunfights, and finally train whistles followed as law and order slowly took hold.
Later years brought concerts, speeches, visiting presidents, and soldiers marching off to the nation's wars. The 1889 city fathers simply called it "The Plaza." In 1902 the city council permanently named it San Jacinto Plaza, after the 1836 battle that won Texas its independence. For many decades the plaza was also famous for live alligators kept in its pond, a quirky local tradition El Pasoans still remember fondly.
Its place in the American story
Few public spaces sum up the story of the American Southwest as neatly as this one. Spanish colonial travel, the Mexican era, the U.S.–Mexican War and the new border, westward migration, frontier military life, and the railroad age all shaped the life of this square.
The plaza also reflects a classic American pattern: the planned townsite. Investors bought land, surveyed it into lots, and set aside public space in the hope of attracting settlers and building value. Setting aside a square for the public in 1857, before El Paso was even a city, was an investment in civic life that has paid off for more than 160 years.
Today El Paso and Ciudad Juárez form one of the largest binational urban areas on the U.S.–Mexico border. San Jacinto Plaza, at the heart of downtown, remains a reminder that this has always been a meeting place of peoples, cultures, and routes.
If you visit
San Jacinto Plaza is an active, central public square in downtown El Paso, so expect city life around you: office workers, families, and people relaxing in the shade. That fits the marker's spirit perfectly, because the plaza has served as "a haven for the weary traveler" for generations.
As you walk through it, try to layer the eras in your mind: ox carts and covered wagons, the strange sight of Army camels, stagecoaches, and the first train whistles. Notice how the surrounding downtown streets still follow the pattern laid out in the 1857 survey. Look for alligator imagery in the plaza too, a nod to its famous former residents.
The plaza is a natural starting point for exploring downtown El Paso on foot. Pair it with the city's historic districts, museums, and views of the mountains and the Rio Grande valley. If you're traveling along the border or across West Texas, this square is a fine place to pause and feel the crossroads that gave El Paso its name.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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