2020 SanElizario Chapel EL PASO HISTORY TV SEG runs 3 min on ABC7 June 19, 2020
Bernie Sargent reports on ABC7 newscasts at 5pm and 10 pm on Friday, June 19, 2020 for EL PASO HISTORY TV about the town of San Elizario, Texas. Unlike the Missions, which were churches for Indians, this Presidio was a fort, and the San Elizario Church was built for the Spaniards. Today, the San Elizario Presidio Chapel is more rare than Spanish Missions.
The San Elizario Presidio had provided the nucleus for the development of a town that grew to more than 1,000 by 1841. The Rio Grande had formed a new channel south of Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario, thus placing these settlements on what amounted to an island, known as "the Island." Living conditions were primitive, and poverty was widespread.
When El Paso County was established in March 1850 San Elizario was the county seat. In 1851 John Russell Bartlett, the boundary commissioner, found the old presidio in ruins. Most of San Elizario’s historic places have been restored. This segment produced by Jackson Polk and Andrew J Polk.