Neighborhoods
The history of the neighborhoods and colonias of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez is yet to be told. We invite our readers to share their stories of the history of the communities where they live. We are particularly interested in the parts of the collective story that are usually excluded in top down renditions of history, renditions that usually focus exclusively on the doings of politicians, businessmen and city elites. We would like to know about the every-day lives of working people in your community who have usually been seen as peripheral to the official history of their city. We want to know about the public and private places—schools, homes, parks, stores, churches, etc.—that have played an important role in your community’s past.
These are some of the issues and questions we ask that you help us explore in this section of our website:
- What sites in your neighborhood are packed with historical significance?
- What places in your neighborhood can be considered communal spaces?
- Who have been the unsung leaders in your community?
- Does your neighborhood tell the story of past power struggles in any way? For instance between the neighborhood residents and City Hall, or between different sectors of the community such as developers and home-owners?
- Has your neighborhood been designated “historic” by the City? Do you feel it should?
- Why have some parts of El Paso been designated as historical districts but not others?
- What stories of the past that you feel are an important have been excluded from official histories of your city? Are there invisible, forgotten or hidden zones at play here?
- Do you think some aspects of the people’s history of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez have been purposefully erased from the historical record?
Please share with us the history of your neighborhood by sending us essays, oral histories, photographs, videos and other documentation that will make this untold history come alive to our readers.
![neighborhood_mural.jpg](../_Files/images/neighborhood_mural.jpg)
Click on the links below for more information about El Paso’s neighborhoods and issues:
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“Albert Fall Mansion: Preservation and Condemnation”
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“En Mi Viejo San Juan”
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“Most Endangered Places of 2004”
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“Sunset Heights Preserves History”
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El Paso Community College Historical Markers Project
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Luis Alberto Urrea Calls For Saving Teresita Urrea’s Site From Demolition
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“A Living History of Segundo Barrio”
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“Eminent Disaster: A Cabal of Politicians and Profiteers Targets an El Paso Barrio”