Old San Francisco Historic District
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
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.
Significance in brief: The district reflects El Paso's rapid growth in the first quarter of the 20th century, when the population doubled roughly every ten years and high-density housing was needed near downtown. West Missouri Street was called "the apartment house street" by the El Paso Herald in 1911. The buildings show a range of apartment-house designs and scales within a unified streetscape.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85001132, listed May 21, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Missouri St. between No. 325 and 527, El Paso |
|---|---|
| County | El Paso County |
| Listed | May 21, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85001132 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1908-1923 |
| Architectural style | Varied apartment-house designs, including Greek Revival and Spanish-Mediterranean Revival elements |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition marked excellent, good and fair; original residential use still prevails, though buildings and neighborhood have deteriorated. Some buildings have nonhistorical alterations. |
| Acreage | 2.9 |
| Within district | Sunset Heights Historic District |
| Coordinates | 31.75985, -106.49417 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85001132.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q109999586
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.