User:Somnabot/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MERRICK BUILDING, ST. CHARLES HOTEL (HOLLYWOOD CAFE) (1887) 301 South El Paso Street
<picture> ST. CHARLES HOTEL (Ca. 1905) ST. CHARLES HOTEL (Ca. 1905)
El Paso architects John J. Stewart and William J. Carpenter erected the Merrick Building in 1887. It later became the Hollywood Café in 1931. The St. Charles Hotel was the longest continuously operating hotel in El Paso until 1996. The complete restoration of the building in 2000 included apartments on the upper floors. The ground floor continues to be operated for retail purposes.
STAGE STATION (1858) 300 South El Paso Street (See the granite Texas Historical Centennial Marker)
STAGE STATION OF THE OVERLAND MAIL CO. (1859) STAGE STATION OF THE OVERLAND MAIL CO. (1859)
El Paso functioned as a major stage line terminal and included the San Antonio and San Diego “Jackass” Mail Company, whose operation extended from San Antonio through El Paso to San Diego and the Butterfield Overland Mail Company, which extended from St. Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California.
In 1858, Anson Mills was commissioned by the Butterfield Company to build its El Paso stage station. The station served as the dividing point between the Eastern and Western divisions of the 2,700-mile route, which would span the longest distance over which coach service had ever been attempted. Completed in September 1858, the Overland building was the largest and best-equipped station on the Overland route, and the most imposing structure in El Paso.
The Civil War and the consequent removal of the troops stationed at forts along the stage road brought the Butterfield stage to an abrupt halt in March 1861. During and after the Civil War, the building served a variety of purposes including a Confederate Army Hospital in 1862, U.S. Army Barracks (1878-1880) and saloon. Stage passengers and mail continued on the San Antonio-El Paso mail line under various contractors, using the stage station located at a site occupied now by the Plaza Hotel and Kress Building. Stage travel virtually disappeared altogether with the arrival of the railroads in 1881.The stage station was demolished in 1898.
FALSE FRONT (DAVE’S PAWN SHOP) (Ca. 1881-1882) 216-218 South El Paso Street
A WAGON TRAIN FROM MEXICO ON SOUTH EL PASO STREET (1882) A WAGON TRAIN FROM MEXICO ON SOUTH EL PASO STREET (1882)
Dave’s Pawn Shop is El Paso’s last surviving false-front structure. The one-part commercial building is a simple box with a decorated wood façade and cornice. The architectural style of small, pitched-roof buildings with false fronts created the commercial core of the new western towns during the mid-19th century. The original decorative cornice can still be seen above the remodeled store front.
