{"nrhp_refnum":"72001358","name":"Presidio Chapel of San Elizario","other_names":["Nuestra Senora del Pilar y de Glorioso San Jose'"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S side of plaza","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Elizario","county":"El Paso County","state":"TX","lat":31.584718088000045,"lon":-106.27319086799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, stucco-covered adobe presidio chapel on the south side of the plaza in San Elizario, El Paso County, Texas. The present walls date from 1877, after an earlier chapel was destroyed by Rio Grande floods.","why_significant":"The chapel is tied to the Spanish presidio of San Elizario, established in 1773 when troops were moved to the valley, and to the town that grew around it. San Elizario was the El Paso County seat from 1850 to 1876 and hosted U.S. troops, including the California Column during the Civil War. The form also marks the chapel as significant for religion and architecture.","narrative":"San Elizario's presidio chapel is a one-story, flat-roofed adobe building covered in stucco, standing on the south side of the town plaza. Its walls date from 1877, when it replaced an earlier chapel destroyed by Rio Grande floods. The main facade has a central doorway with a fanlight, pilasters and buttresses, narrow round-headed windows, and a bell gable holding three bells. Three apse projections extend from the rear, the center one housing the main altar. A fire in 1935 destroyed the interior, including the nineteenth-century vigas and woodwork, and it has since been rebuilt. The chapel's importance lies in its link to the presidio established here in 1773, when troops were relocated to the valley and Franciscan missionaries served the chapel. The town grew around the presidio, became the largest valley settlement south of El Paso, and served as county seat from 1850 to 1876. It is still used for worship.","period_of_significance":"18th Century (established 1773, rebuilt 1877)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in religious use; condition marked fair and altered. The interior was destroyed by fire in 1935 and rebuilt.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.273037-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/9718/40971831/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/72001358.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001358/c0a6100617-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001358/c0a6100617-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jsweida","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Elizario_Mission.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jsweida</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Elizario_Mission.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"97000205","name":"San Elizario Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/san-elizario-historic-district-97000205/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971831","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidio_Chapel_of_San_Elizario","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7241527"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/el-paso-county/presidio-chapel-of-san-elizario-72001358/"}