Montgomery Building (El Paso, Texas) facts for kids
The Montgomery Building is a very old and special building in El Paso, Texas. It's the last building left with a unique "false-front" style. This means its front wall was built to look taller than the rest of the building. It's also the oldest business building still standing in El Paso.
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How El Paso Grew
The Montgomery Building was built when El Paso was changing a lot. Before, it was a small village made of adobe (a type of mud brick). But then, the railroad arrived on May 13, 1881! This was a huge deal.
The Railroad Boom
The Southern Pacific Railroad came to El Paso, and more railroads were on their way. This made the city grow very fast. Many new buildings were constructed. They used lumber (wood) and brick instead of adobe. Some of these new buildings were even two stories tall. El Paso Street became a busy shopping area. It stretched from San Jacinto Plaza all the way to the Rio Grande river.
Who Built It?
In 1882, a man named William J. Montgomery built this special building. He used an empty space between two other buildings. He was clever and used the existing walls of those buildings. He only had to build a roof, a floor, and the front and back walls. He also added a wall down the middle. This created two separate spaces, which became 216 and 218 El Paso Street.
What It Looked Like
The Montgomery Building showed what many buildings in the American West looked like back then. It had a "false front" to make it seem taller. This made it look more like the big commercial buildings in cities back East. When it first opened, the building had a drug store and a book store.
Why the Building Looks Special
The outside of the Montgomery Building was very common for towns in the Western United States during the railroad boom. Builders wanted these new towns to look like cities in the eastern part of the country. So, they started using stone and lumber instead of adobe or logs.
Building Materials
Wood was hard to find in El Paso. But the railroad brought in milled lumber, much of it from places like Cloudcroft, New Mexico. The railroads also brought other materials. These included pressed tin, cast iron, and glass. These materials helped buildings look like the popular styles from the eastern United States.
The False Front Style
The Montgomery Building is a simple, one-story commercial building. It has a decorated wooden front and a fancy top edge called a cornice. This style, with small buildings and false fronts, created the main shopping areas in new western towns.
The false front made the building look taller than it actually was. The top of the false front had a decorative cornice. This was a popular style called Italianate style at the time. It made people think the building was bigger and held more businesses. Just like the main streets in eastern American towns.
How We Know
In front of the original building, there was a wooden sidewalk. It had a wooden roof over it and posts for horses to be tied. We know exactly what the building looked like in 1882. A photographer named F. Parker took pictures of the city as it changed.
The Montgomery Building Today
Over the years, the two parts of the building (216 and 218) have been changed inside and out many times. They have been home to many different businesses. These include drugstores, restaurants, shoemakers, and clothing stores. Today, the building houses Dave’s A Pawn Shop and a clothing store.
Changes Over Time
When cars became popular and streets were paved, the old wooden sidewalks and roofs were removed. New, regular sidewalks were built. Today, a modern sign covers the original wooden front of the building. But you can still clearly see the fancy cornice at the top. The building at 216-218 S. El Paso Street is a great example of western architecture from the exciting 1880s.
It stands on what was once a very important shopping street in El Paso. It helps us remember the rich history of the Old West in El Paso. It is one of the few buildings left from the city's first business district.
The addresses 216 and 218 S. El Paso Street have been used continuously for over 120 years. This makes it the oldest business building still in use in El Paso.
