{"nrhp_refnum":"72001357","name":"Old Fort Bliss","other_names":["Site of Hart's Mill"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"1800 block of Doniphan St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"El Paso","county":"El Paso County","state":"TX","lat":31.764753784500044,"lon":-106.50963414961967,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Old Fort Bliss is a military post site at the 1800 block of Doniphan Street in El Paso, Texas, on the former Hart's Mill property beside the Rio Grande. The fort occupied the site from 1878 to 1893 and incorporated earlier mill buildings dating from 1851.","why_significant":"The site was the first location the federal government purchased for Fort Bliss and the first place a permanent post was to be built. During its fifteen years there, the fort took part in some of the last Indian campaigns in the Southwest, including the Victorio uprising of 1879 and the campaign against Geronimo in 1885-1886. It also preserves the site of Simeon Hart's flour mill.","narrative":"Old Fort Bliss is the surviving core of a military post that operated on the Rio Grande in El Paso from 1878 to 1893. The 135-acre site was bought from the heirs of Simeon Hart, who had built a large water-powered flour mill there in 1851. Visible remains include two two-story adobe officers' quarters on cut-stone basements, now apartments, two long adobe barracks, and Hart's former residence, later an officers' club and now a restaurant. Soldiers did much of the construction after contractor bids far exceeded the $40,000 Congress appropriated. The post took part in the Victorio uprising of 1879 and the campaign against Geronimo in 1885-1886. Railroad tracks eventually crossed the parade ground, and in 1893 the fort moved to its final location northeast of the city. Archeological study is expected to reveal more fort ruins and the mill remains.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific dates: 1851 mill; c. 1885 barracks)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian-style plain masonry military buildings","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair and altered; the officers' quarters are used as apartments and Hart's residence houses a restaurant.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.520516-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/9718/40971889/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/72001357.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971889","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Fort_Bliss","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65121112"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/el-paso-county/old-fort-bliss-72001357/"}