Buildings Lost In El Paso And What Happened To Them

El Paso has lost a number of buildings over the years. Some were on purpose, some weren't.

I posted an article the other day about the old courthouse, which used to host public events like rock concerts. It was demolished decades ago so the current courthouse could be built in its place.

That got me thinking of other El Paso buildings that no longer stand.

• The First National Bank Building, which stood at 100 E. San Antonio for 130 years and once housed the law office of John Wesley Hardin, was burned down in 2012.
• The Anny Fashion store building at 113 S. Mesa was demolished in 2020 to open up space.
• At the moment, it seems plans are being made to demolish the Haymon Krupp & Company building at the corner of Santa Fe and West Overland.
• Fire also destroyed the old Bonanza Meat Company building at Paisano and Park Street.
• The DeSoto Hotel was also pretty much gutted by fire but, it seems, the owners plan to restore it.

Some big and historic structures have been destroyed deliberately. The old city hall building, for example, was demolished,(in part), to make room for Southwest University Park. (Watch it be built in under 2 minutes here.)

The Asarco smelter site was deactivated long, long ago. The land was cleared much later and finally, in 2013, the iconic smokestack was brought down. There is still no word on what will happen to the land which many fear is loaded with dangerous byproducts of the smelting process

Check out these photos of all the buildings mentioned.