Old San Francisco Historic District

Sixteen brick apartment buildings, boarding houses and residences line West Missouri Street in El Paso, built between 1908 and 1923 on part of the Stevens Addition, platted in 1904. Thirteen date from before 1916. They share granite retaining walls and foundations quarried from the Franklin Mountains foot, load-bearing brick walls, white-painted wood trim, and symmetrical three-part facades, producing a unified roofline on the sloping terrain. Details vary from Greek Revival columns to the Spanish-Mediterranean Revival Palms Apartments. The district matters because it records El Paso's growth as the city's population rose from about 15,000 in 1900 to nearly 80,000 by 1920, creating demand for housing near downtown. The El Paso Herald called the street the apartment house street in 1911. Construction of Interstate 10 in 1967 cut the district off from Sunset Heights, and neglect has affected many buildings, though residential use continues.