Tales from the Morgue

1998: El Paso Ghost Stories

October 31, 1998

By Christy Flores

El Paso Times

Fire Station No. 9 is a lonely place to be at night.

Across the street from the charred remains of an old building, the tiny station sits in the El Paso warehouse district - an area that is completely deserted after 5 p.m. When warehouse workers venture home, the streets turn empty and quiet. The three firefighters at No. 9 are left only with each other and a ghost.

John D. Davis, the captain, knows all about the ghost that bumps around the building. Davis has not only felt the spirit's presence but has also tried to communicate with him.

"I did speak to him upstairs because I thought he was present," Davis said. "I felt a cold draft behind me. It made me a little nervous."

"A little nervous" understates how some firefighters feel about haunted station No. 9. A tragic event occurred there years ago, making it a prime spot for a ghost. And it's not alone. Other El Paso sites, most with long histories, are said to house restless souls who roam about, occasionally letting themselves be felt, seen or heard.

Several firefighters who've worked at No. 9 can give accounts of eerie happenings there. Some things they've experienced include feeling a presence behind them as they climb the stairs; feeling a cold sensation as if the ghost passed through their bodies; finding furniture randomly scattered; and, perhaps creepiest of all, seeing the big bay door open by itself.

The mysterious events have been credited to the ghost of Woodard Bloxom, the captain of the station, who died after battling a fire Feb. 13, 1934, in a warehouse across the street. Firefighters theorize that Bloxom is the station's guardian angel. Because most of the unexplainable events occur right before the crew is contacted to respond to a call, they are seen as forewarnings, not malicious hauntings.

When Davis spoke to Bloxom's ghost, Davis told him that as the new captain he would take care of the station and the crew. He assured Bloxom that it was OK for him to move on if he needed to. Bloxom never responded, nor did he stop haunting, Davis said.

Joe Gallegos, who's been at the station for almost 15 years, said he's heard the ghost.

"I've heard noises, like the commode flushing when everybody was already asleep," he said.

Fire suppression technician Paul Ramsey also has heard the toilet flush by itself. And he had an interesting encounter with the water fountain.

"I actually saw the knob turn by itself. I thought the guys were playing a joke," he said. "I tried to turn it off, but it wouldn't let me. When I let go, it turned off by itself."

The ghost of Seamon Hall

Power struggles with ghosts is probably just as frightening as seeing one.

Geology professor David LeMone once saw a ghost in Seamon Hall on the University of Texas at El Paso campus, he said. At the time though, he didn't realize it was a ghost.

It was about 30 years ago when LeMone was standing outside of Seamon Hall and he noticed a light in one of the windows. When he looked up, he saw a man wearing a Mackinaw coat cleaning inside the building.

Because Seamon Hall was not in use at that time, LeMone asked a janitor who the person in the building could be. His question shook up the janitor, who apparently knew about a legend of a ghost in Seamon Hall.

One version of the story, LeMone said, is that a longtime UTEP janitor died and he supposedly hid his money there.

Seamon Hall is now used as a storage building for the geology department. Dark, dusty and filled with tons of boxes and rock samples, the site seems inviting to ghosts.

"Today, you can't get any of the janitors to go over there in the evening," LeMone said.

But English professor John West, who teaches a folklore class at UTEP, has a different take. He was approached by a janitor about Seamon Hall. The rumors about ghosts there led West to do some research. He discovered a nebulous story that was never completely confirmed, West said. It goes something like this:

In the past, Seamon Hall was used for mining and metallurgy students. The dean of the department, back in the 1930s or '40s, used to invite students over for tea parties. Girls were also invited to the gatherings. One student and a particular girl began dating after they met at the parties. Their relationship turned sour and the girl was murdered, presumably by the student.

Now at about 3 or 4 in the morning, an old car drives up to Seamon Hall, a ghost girl gets out, and she wanders around the hall, possibly looking for the student who did her in.

Firehouse swinger

It could be that kind of angry ghost who wanders around Fire Station No. 11 in Downtown El Paso. Some bizarre happenings there have the firefighters a little jittery.

"We have a bed upstairs that these guys won't sleep in," said Fire Lt. Ramiro Rios. "The bed shakes."

According to the firefighters, some strong and bothersome force keeps the occupant of one particular bed awake at night. The bed shakes eerily, the blankets are tugged on and whoever is in the bed is plagued with an annoying cough.

"I was there for four months in that bed. I had lots of sleeping problems, kept coughing at night," said firefighter Troy Reister. Finally, one night, he switched beds and his problems stopped.

Now none of the crew - the same big guys who fearlessly fight blazes - wants to sleep in that bed. So it is designated as a "swing" bed for the firefighters who rotate from station to station.

Firefighter Karla Martinez had a creepy experience in the same bedroom, but in the bed that sits directly across from the shaky bed. As she lay there trying to sleep, she felt a strange presence looming over her.

"I felt like something was watching me. And when I closed my eyes, I felt like something was being thrown over me," she said.

When she opened her eyes to see who was by her bed, she found no one. The rest of the crew was asleep. So she snuggled tightly under the covers.

"That's when I felt something tugging at the blanket," Martinez said. These days, she's abandoned the bed and prefers to sleep on the couch in the TV room. Who can blame her?

La Negrita legend

Not too far away from station No. 11 is Aoy Elementary School, a two-story historic building. It is here that the legend of La Negrita lives.

According to employees at Aoy, La Negrita was a nurse - the building was a hospital before it became a school - who died in the area near the gym, where a girl's restroom is situated today. Few have seen her ghost, but plenty of people blame her for the unexplainable noises in the building.

"We never wanted to go by ourselves to the restroom. We'd go hand in hand," said Millie Diaz-Couder, who attended fourth and fifth grade at Aoy about 30 years ago. Now she works in the school's office as the home liaison.

Diaz-Couder said she used to hear stories about the shower curtains in the bathroom opening by themselves. La Negrita was the culprit, and everyone knew about her. If the children misbehaved, the teachers would remind them about La Negrita, she said.

"They'd scare us by telling us they were going to send us to the bathroom by ourselves."

1998: El Paso Ghost Stories

October 31, 1998

By Christy Flores

El Paso Times

Fire Station No. 9 is a lonely place to be at night.

Across the street from the charred remains of an old building, the tiny station sits in the El Paso warehouse district - an area that is completely deserted after 5 p.m. When warehouse workers venture home, the streets turn empty and quiet. The three firefighters at No. 9 are left only with each other and a ghost.

John D. Davis, the captain, knows all about the ghost that bumps around the building. Davis has not only felt the spirit's presence but has also tried to communicate with him.

"I did speak to him upstairs because I thought he was present," Davis said. "I felt a cold draft behind me. It made me a little nervous."

"A little nervous" understates how some firefighters feel about haunted station No. 9. A tragic event occurred there years ago, making it a prime spot for a ghost. And it's not alone. Other El Paso sites, most with long histories, are said to house restless souls who roam about, occasionally letting themselves be felt, seen or heard.

Several firefighters who've worked at No. 9 can give accounts of eerie happenings there. Some things they've experienced include feeling a presence behind them as they climb the stairs; feeling a cold sensation as if the ghost passed through their bodies; finding furniture randomly scattered; and, perhaps creepiest of all, seeing the big bay door open by itself.

The mysterious events have been credited to the ghost of Woodard Bloxom, the captain of the station, who died after battling a fire Feb. 13, 1934, in a warehouse across the street. Firefighters theorize that Bloxom is the station's guardian angel. Because most of the unexplainable events occur right before the crew is contacted to respond to a call, they are seen as forewarnings, not malicious hauntings.

When Davis spoke to Bloxom's ghost, Davis told him that as the new captain he would take care of the station and the crew. He assured Bloxom that it was OK for him to move on if he needed to. Bloxom never responded, nor did he stop haunting, Davis said.

Joe Gallegos, who's been at the station for almost 15 years, said he's heard the ghost.

"I've heard noises, like the commode flushing when everybody was already asleep," he said.

Fire suppression technician Paul Ramsey also has heard the toilet flush by itself. And he had an interesting encounter with the water fountain.

"I actually saw the knob turn by itself. I thought the guys were playing a joke," he said. "I tried to turn it off, but it wouldn't let me. When I let go, it turned off by itself."

The ghost of Seamon Hall

Power struggles with ghosts is probably just as frightening as seeing one.

Geology professor David LeMone once saw a ghost in Seamon Hall on the University of Texas at El Paso campus, he said. At the time though, he didn't realize it was a ghost.

It was about 30 years ago when LeMone was standing outside of Seamon Hall and he noticed a light in one of the windows. When he looked up, he saw a man wearing a Mackinaw coat cleaning inside the building.

Because Seamon Hall was not in use at that time, LeMone asked a janitor who the person in the building could be. His question shook up the janitor, who apparently knew about a legend of a ghost in Seamon Hall.

One version of the story, LeMone said, is that a longtime UTEP janitor died and he supposedly hid his money there.

Seamon Hall is now used as a storage building for the geology department. Dark, dusty and filled with tons of boxes and rock samples, the site seems inviting to ghosts.

"Today, you can't get any of the janitors to go over there in the evening," LeMone said.

But English professor John West, who teaches a folklore class at UTEP, has a different take. He was approached by a janitor about Seamon Hall. The rumors about ghosts there led West to do some research. He discovered a nebulous story that was never completely confirmed, West said. It goes something like this:

In the past, Seamon Hall was used for mining and metallurgy students. The dean of the department, back in the 1930s or '40s, used to invite students over for tea parties. Girls were also invited to the gatherings. One student and a particular girl began dating after they met at the parties. Their relationship turned sour and the girl was murdered, presumably by the student.

Now at about 3 or 4 in the morning, an old car drives up to Seamon Hall, a ghost girl gets out, and she wanders around the hall, possibly looking for the student who did her in.

Firehouse swinger

It could be that kind of angry ghost who wanders around Fire Station No. 11 in Downtown El Paso. Some bizarre happenings there have the firefighters a little jittery.

"We have a bed upstairs that these guys won't sleep in," said Fire Lt. Ramiro Rios. "The bed shakes."

According to the firefighters, some strong and bothersome force keeps the occupant of one particular bed awake at night. The bed shakes eerily, the blankets are tugged on and whoever is in the bed is plagued with an annoying cough.

"I was there for four months in that bed. I had lots of sleeping problems, kept coughing at night," said firefighter Troy Reister. Finally, one night, he switched beds and his problems stopped.

Now none of the crew - the same big guys who fearlessly fight blazes - wants to sleep in that bed. So it is designated as a "swing" bed for the firefighters who rotate from station to station.

Firefighter Karla Martinez had a creepy experience in the same bedroom, but in the bed that sits directly across from the shaky bed. As she lay there trying to sleep, she felt a strange presence looming over her.

"I felt like something was watching me. And when I closed my eyes, I felt like something was being thrown over me," she said.

When she opened her eyes to see who was by her bed, she found no one. The rest of the crew was asleep. So she snuggled tightly under the covers.

"That's when I felt something tugging at the blanket," Martinez said. These days, she's abandoned the bed and prefers to sleep on the couch in the TV room. Who can blame her?

La Negrita legend

Not too far away from station No. 11 is Aoy Elementary School, a two-story historic building. It is here that the legend of La Negrita lives.

According to employees at Aoy, La Negrita was a nurse - the building was a hospital before it became a school - who died in the area near the gym, where a girl's restroom is situated today. Few have seen her ghost, but plenty of people blame her for the unexplainable noises in the building.

"We never wanted to go by ourselves to the restroom. We'd go hand in hand," said Millie Diaz-Couder, who attended fourth and fifth grade at Aoy about 30 years ago. Now she works in the school's office as the home liaison.

Diaz-Couder said she used to hear stories about the shower curtains in the bathroom opening by themselves. La Negrita was the culprit, and everyone knew about her. If the children misbehaved, the teachers would remind them about La Negrita, she said.

"They'd scare us by telling us they were going to send us to the bathroom by ourselves."

1984: Rebecca’s riddle; Is she just a ‘presence’ or was she real?

10/30/1984

By David Sheppard
Times staff writer

CLOUDCROFT- Tales abound of the mischievous ghost that for decades has lurked about the rooms and corridors of The Lodge.

Guest and employees of the rambling country inn tell of doors opening and closing on their own accord and of faucets turning themselves on. A bartender once watched flames erupt in the bar’s fireplace when no wood or paper was in it. And many a desk clerk has reported receiving strange telephone calls from Room 101 – the Governor’s Suite – when the room was unoccupied.

The odd but harmless occurrences have happened to several unsuspecting witnesses over the years. Most often, the antics are couched in considerable mystery and Rebecca is given credit for them.

But if Rebecca is the answer to such puzzling events, then more questions must be asked. Who was she? Where did she come from? Where is she now?

No one connected with The Lodge seems to know. That, perhaps, is the greatest mystery of all.

All stories about her say that Rebecca was a chambermaid who worked and lived at the inn during the 1930s. A stunning redhead with bright blue eyes, she took up with a burly lumberjack when logging was Cloudcroft’s major industry.

One day, Rebecca’s boyfriend returned to The Lodge and found her with another man. She abruptly disappeared from her quarters after she was caught. She never was seen again.

Jerry Sanders, who now owns The Lodge, says the story of Rebecca “is a charming legend,” but he isn’t sure she ever really existed.

“Some real interesting things have happened,” he said, but he considers a real, historic Rebecca immaterial.

“There is a presence – there’s no question about that,” and he calls that presence Rebecca “because that’s the story we inherited.”

Sanders first heard of Rebecca on his first trip to the hotel. During a tour of the buildings, the owner – Glynda Bonnell – told Jerry and his wife Carole that the Lodge had a friendly resident ghost named Rebecca.

“She told us she had red hair, blue eyes and was voluptuous,” Sanders said. From the description, the Sanderses had her portrait painted and hung it at the entrance to the restaurant – which they named “Rebecca’s.”

Bonnell said the legend was handed down to her from previous owners and employees. She doesn’t know how much truth is in the story, but for Bonnell, like so many others, Rebecca provided an explanation for a mysterious experience she had.

“I was in the Governor’s Suite redoing some drapes one day when I heard a knock on the door,” Bonnell said. Her back was to the door and her head partly was covered by the drapes. “I said, ‘Come in.’ There was no answer, but I heard the door open and footsteps coming in.

“I said, ‘What do you want?’” still no answer, Bonnell tossed the drapes off her head, stepped down the ladder, turned and was walking toward the door when it closed. She reached the glass-paned door just as it clicked shut. She looked through the panes down the hallway to see who had just left and saw – nothing.

“That was it,” she said. “That was kind of startling, to say the least.”

Buddy Ritter another previous owner, said “many strange things” used to happen at The Lodge, but he never attributed them to Rebecca.

None of the recent owners traced Rebecca’s background. All they know about her is her name and the story of her disappearance. Sanders said she apparently was called both Rebecca and Becky, but he has yet to learn her last name.

If she did exist, evidence of her is hard to find. Otero County Sheriff Ricky Virden recently went through missing person’s reports through the 1930s and found none concerning a Rebecca or a Becky.

“I’ve never known the real story,” said Virden, who first heard the legend as a child growing up in the area.

The most prevalent account of Rebecca’s disappearance is that she was killed on Aug. 18 back in the 1930s. But no evidence can be found of an investigation into the murder.

Sanders acknowledges that Rebecca could be the character of a fanciful tale. But whether she’s fact or fiction doesn’t’ really matter, he said. Her presence is what counts.

1934: Home Or Jail By 9 O’clock, Boys Warned

October 31, 1934

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Chief Says Old Curfew Law Will Be Enforced In El Paso

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TO STOP VANDALISM

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Robey Also Hopes to Prevent Halloween Destruction By New Order

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Police Chief L.T. Robey today exploded the hopes of youghful Halloween celebrators for an all-night jamboree when he ordered enforcement of the city’s ancient 9 o’clock curfew ordinance.

The chief announced that those who were not off the streets by 9 p.m. would spend the night in jail.

“I mean that, too,” the chief said.

“Radio patrolmen and special officers who will be on duty tonight have their instructions to bring children under 18 years of age to the police station.”

Tonight will be the first time in many years that police have undertaken to enforce the curfew ordinance.

Must Have Guardian

It was passed Sept. 2, 1915, and has been practically forgotten. It specifies that it is unlawful for a child under 16 years of age to be upon city streets after 9 p.m. unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, or someone related to one of the parents.
Possibility that the police department will enforce the curfew ordinance permanently was seen today. Chief Robey said he is conferring with city officials and the legal department as to the advisability of enforcing the ordinance as a means of curbing vandalism by youths.

Youthful vandals have been doing hundreds of dollars of damage to city parks and private property recently.

Chief Robey also warned Halloween celebrators to confine their pranks to those of a mild nature tonight.

Promise Bitter Medicine

“We are going to administer a little bitter medicine to anyone who goes in for destructive and dangerous pranks tonight,” he said.

“Greasing street car tracks, cluttering up streets, and private property with junk or furniture and hurting anyone is out.”

A special crew of watchmen will be employed by the city water works and fire department to see that fire plugs are not turned on in wholesale quantities as they were last year.

Chief Robey also added that there will be no intoxicated persons released from the city jail tomorrow.

1934: Aged-Old Halloween Ghosts Find Competition in E.P.

October 31, 1934

Miss Elizabeth Kelly, Head of Boys and Girls’ Department at Library, Gives Vivid Story Of Three Goblins Reported Here
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When Halloween ghosts and goblins fly through the air tonight they will be in competition with three home town, all the year round, ghosts.

There’s a ghost in the hill back of El Paso, another one in Juarez, and a third in Ysleta. So avers Miss Elizabeth Kelly, head of the boys and girls’ department of the public library.

Miss Kelly hasn’t investigated personally the existence of the wraiths, but she has the stories straight from her best friends and from relatives and persons who swear they know.

The trio of supernatural troublemakers are women. One of them is known as the old Indian witch of Mt. Franklin, and prospectors and treasure hunters are her pet peeve. She never bothers picnickers and hikers.

Plagues Prospectors

Let a prospector or treasure hunter venture around at night, however, and woe is sure to follow. Plagued by the witch they fall down and break a leg or lose their way and suffer from thirst.

She’s taking vengeance, so the story goes, upon the modern successors to a band of Spaniards who killed her and stole her silver mine on Mt. Franklin years ago.

One by one she led members of the band to death. On a dark night a boy was watching outside while the survivors worked the mine. He saw an old woman climb to the top of the hill above the entrance. Suddenly she stamped her foot, the mine caved in, and that was the end of the Spaniards.

Guards Treasure

The second ghost haunts a house at Ysleta where treasure reputedly lies buried. She’s an unpleasant ghost with vicious eyes, Miss Kelly says.

Those staring eyes paralyze treasure hunters whose thirst for gold overcomes their fear – and the treasure remains intact.

Less lucky has been the third of these ghosts, who flit about in Juarez.

For years the white – dressed phantom kept herself in the corner of a certain house, weeping and wailing all night. Families moved in – and moved right out again. But one brave man, who fought with Pancho Villa, decided he could take it. When the weeping began that night he accosted the white figure.

Had No Face

She raised her head. He stood petrified and his hair tried for new altitude records. The thing had no face!

The soldier left quicker than his bravery, left Juarez altogether, they say. But the next family to move in paid no attention to the weeping. They dug up a pot of square Spanish gold pieces buried in the ground beneath the corner in which the ghost wept nightly.

The house never again has been haunted. Miss Kelly will tell you, but they say that the ghost still wanders about Juarez, especially on rainy nights, still weeping.

1936: Carlsbad Caverns Discovered in 1901 By James Larkin White, Young Cowboy

May 28, 1936

A youngful cowboy halted his mustang and stared. In the distance he saw, rising from the ground, what seemed to be a column of smoke.

He spurred his mustang forward and saw, to his astonishment, that what he had thought was smoke, was an immense flock of bats – millions of them! The bats were emerging from a hole in the ground.

Thus did James Larkin White, 18-year-old cowhand, discover in 1901 the world’s greatest and most spectacular underground wonder, the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico.

A few days later White and a young Mexican friend began to explore the caverns. They did not go far. In 1905 and 1906 they resumed explorations, entering for several miles. The smudges with which they marked the walls are still visible. White is still living and has profited little from his discovery. He runs a tourist camp near the caverns.

Today, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, consisting of 10,000 acres of rugged hills in the Guadalupe Mountains, is one of America’s most popular scenic attractions. Only 25 miles from Carlsbad, N.M., and 157 miles from El Paso, it is an important asset to these and other nearby cities.

The Caverns consist of a series of loft and spacious underground chambers and connecting corridors, with alcoves extending off to the sides that are of great beauty. Most impressive is the famous Big Room, nearly 4000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and at one place 300 feet high.

Writers have exhausted their adjectives trying to describe the strange beauty of Carlsbad Caverns. They go into verbal ecstatics over its cathedral-like doors, its frozen encases of milk-white flowstone, its glittering stalactites suspended like chandeliers hundreds of feet above the floor, the giant stalagmites which have been 50,000,000 years in the making. Here Mother Nature fairly outdoes herself.

Supt. Thomas Boles reveals that 116,457 persons visited the caverns in 1935, and that 150,000 will visit them this year. They come from every state in the union and from many foreign countries.

1973: First Mayor’s Daughter Recalls School Days

August 6, 1973

Mary Dowell Phillips, who in the 1930s jotted down her memories of early El Paso, was one of the first school pupils in the little town.

She recalled that her first teacher was named Wright and that she also went to school to a Frenchman, Peter Lafayette, who taught in English and Spanish.

Schooling was erratic during Civil War days when the family sought refuge in Juarez.

In 1867, she recalled, there was “an old lawyer. His name was M.A. Jones; he was a Southern aristocrat. He was nice and he taught school and the scholars were the two Gillets, Johnny and Jimmy, Fred Percy, the Conniff children, Anny, Marry, Mike and Henry. They were the older Conniff children.”

Later in 1867, a Mrs. Reed, whose husband had died in a smallpox epidemic, taught here. She stayed about a year.

When judge and Mrs. Gaylord Clarke came to town in 1869. “Mrs. Clarke was a college lady and she had a little girl that had to go to school. There was no school so she started to teach school so as to teach her little girl so then we all went to be taught by her.

“She had a large school by that time. There were other families, Mr. David Abraham had come with his family of two boys and a little girl. Their names were Hyman and Louis and Sarah Abraham. Another family had two boys, Tom and Owen Burnum. Willie Marsh, the son of the collector of customs, Dr. D. C. Marsh. (also attended).”

When Parson Joe W. Tays came to El Paso in 1870, Mrs. Phillips recalled, Mrs. Clarke turned the school over to him.

“By that time the school was well attended; a lot of Mexican children attended. Mr. Tays at that time lived where the Angelus Hotel is right north and across the street from San Jacinto Park and there was where the school was.

“Mr. Thomas Massie lived on one end of the house; that property belonged to Mr. Massie.

When the public schools became compulsory Parson Tays was principal of the schools in El Paso, wrote Mrs. Phillips. He “appointed me teacher of the girls because the Mexican people would not send their girls to men teachers and it was compulsory to go to school.

“So Parson Tays said to me, Mary you can teach this school.” So I took the school for the girls. Some of the girls were as old as I was. I taught for a year.

“Charles Kerber from Ysleta was inspector of the schools and would come and inspect the school and examine the progress of scholars.”

The quality of education must have been satisfactory, even for a wild frontier town, judging from the clarity of her handwriting in her later years and her attention to detail. After she had married Warner Phillips and they lived on the Dowell ranch in the present Country Club area, Don Jesus Escobar, the Mexican consul of Juarez, used to visit them. He would “talk to Mr. Phillips on all kids of subjects. We had all kinds of newspapers and magazines. And he would say what a pleasure it was to talk to educated and intelligent people. He would not think they could be found on a ranch.”

Parson Tays, Mrs. Phillips related, started the first church in el Paso. St. Clements’s. He was an Episcopalian minister.

“He had that old bell cast over the river by somebody by the name of Giron. Eugene Van Patten, who could speak Spanish as well as a native, arranged for it.

“Mrs. Clarke was so surprised to think that people her in this out in the sticks country knew how to cast, I went to the call of that bell many a long time to school.

“One time in 1922, coming from town, I had to come by St. Clements’s church on my way home, and I was hot and so I looked in and it looked so cool I went in and the first thing I saw as that old bell.

“Well, you have no idea the feeling that came over me; it was like meeting an old friend. I wanted to cry. I put my hand on it with a caressing touch. It brought back so many old memoirs of my younger days.

“I sat there a while, the church was empty but so cool and restful. I turned to go out and on the side of the door there I saw a framed plaque telling of Judge Clarke being instrumental in Tays’ coming to El Paso. The Clarkes were other old friends of mine and Mrs. Clarke, my old friend and teacher.”

Dowell School in Northeast El Paso was named in honor of Ben Dowell and also commemorates the pioneer teaching efforts of his daughter, Mary.

1951: Announce Opening Of 1881 Building On Historic Site

February 8, 1951

Formal opening of the remodeled 1881 Building, modern office structure, will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 15. The work cost $500,000.

The building, occupied until a little more than a year ago by the Milner Hotel, has been renamed in honor of O.T. Bassett, El Paso pioneer, who founded a lumber yard on the site in 1881.

All-Year Conditioning

One of the features of the building is underfloor electric ducts, eliminating electric wall plugs and proving outlets on the floor for both lamps and telephones.

Among other features are all year air conditioning for the entire building, sound proofing and acoustical ceilings fluorescent lighting and modern elevators.

The lobby contains walls of imported tile with bronze decorations, including a huge star in the center of the floor.

First floor tenants will be Eckford, Smith and Vandenheuvel, Allen Arms, Elias G. Krubb Inc., Size 0 Dress Shop, Palm’s Shoe Store, Tri-State Music Co., Electric Center and El Paso Federal savings and Loan Co.

Phone Company Offices

The second floor is being occupied entirely by the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph co.

Features of the telephone firm’s floor is a modern housing for an accounting office. Recreation rooms and a snack bar are provided for employes.

Third floor of the building contains offices of General Motors Acceptance Corp., General Motors Insurance Corp., Buick Motor Division, Southwestern Life Insurance Co., New York Life Insurance Co., Main and Co., and El Paso Natural Gas Co.

Horse Rings in Sidewalk

Each unit was constructed according to specifications of tenants.

A new sidewalk will be laid. Items of the history of the site, such as rings for tying horses, will be set into the new walk.

An ancient marker, labeling the street now call Mills as St. Louis, will be put into the sidewalk.

A number of years after O.T. Bassett established his lumber yard on the site, two rooming houses were constructed and later joined.

Honors Pioneer

Still later, the structures became known as the Lockie Hotel and more recently the Milner Hotel.

The name 1881 Building was selected to honor O.T. Bassett, and also to mark the year that the real history of El Paso began.

It was during this year that the first railroads, troop installations, Postoffice, bank, and street railway were established here.

Owned by Estate

After the death of Mr. Bassett, his son, C.N. Bassett, who died a few years ago, took over the estate.

The property now is part of Bassett Estate Inc., headed by Mrs. Myra P. Bassett, widow of C.N. Bassett. Hal M. Daugherty is vice-president and general manager of the estate.

R.E. McKee Inc. is contractor for the remodeling program. Eckford, Smith and Vandenheuvel are agents.

1931: Grocers Defy Closing Laws; Announce They Will Stay Open on Sabbath

September 8. 1931

E.E. Schmidt, proprietor of the Five Points Produce Co., Tuesday blamed “business jealousy” for complaints filed against him and two other store workers, charging them with doing business on Sunday.

Schmidt pointed out that a subpoena was issued calling L.V. Sigman, Safeway Stores manager, as a witness when previous charges were filed in Peace Justice M.V. Ward’s court. Those were dismissed.

The Five Points Produce Co. will remain open next Sunday, Schmidt said.

Wong Mark Jung and Samuel Abraham are the other two grocers named in complaints.

Wong said he stays open only four hours on Sunday, and that he has been doing so for years.

He blamed competition between the Safeway Stores and Five Points Produce for the complaints.

“Other stores all over town remain open all day Sunday.” He said. “Why pick on us?”

He said he will remain open next Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Abraham said he has placed the matter in the hands of his attorney.

Sigman denied that professional jealously inspired the filing of the complaints. They were signed by Roy Boatright, a meat cutter.

1958 Rock Kings Hunt Rock ‘n’ Roll Success

December 26, 1958

Success seldom arrives on a golden platter, but that’s the dream of the Rock Kings, an El Paso rock and roll group organized about seven months ago. (In the phonograph business, a record of gold denotes sale of 1,000,000 copies of a record.)

Their first record, “Runaway” backed by “King’s Walk,” is selling good in El Paso and throughout the South.

The boys have another recording session planned for next month at Redco studios in Bogalusa, La. They’re hopefully optimistic that the next record will be the one that makes the hit parade.

Only One of Age

Members of the group include Bill Wilson, drums; Joe Rodriguez, piano; John Sargent, saxophone; Chuck Moore, guitar; and Jack Moore, bass guitar. Gary Waldo acts as business manager.

Jack Moore, Chuck’s older brother, is the only one of age. He has guardianship papers signed and notarized permitting all of the members to play music in places where alcoholic beverages are sold. He’s 21.

The beginning is always tough for musicians. Like the originators of rock and roll, the Rock Kings have often had to play any place they cold get a job.

“I can remember some awful places, too,” Jack laughed, recalling an Upper Valley bar the band played in once.

“We had to play among the trash cans,” Chuck Said. “It was a rat hole.”

First earnings Low

“This band was new then,” Jack added, “and we probably didn’t sound very good. Anyway, we only earned $1.75 each that night.” The band plays four hours.

They have played for dances and in personal appearances at the Ft. Bliss Teenage Club, the Phoenician Club, Cathedral High School, Central YMCA William Beaumont Army Hospital, Ysleta High School, Biggs AFB, Austin High school, and to a big crowd in the Coliseum. They perform every Saturday night at the Jet Lounge in Alamogordo and every Wednesday at the Golden Horseshoe in El Paso. The highest pay they’ve received for a night’s work was $20 each.

They rehearse one night a week. They meet at Bill Wilson’s house (because he has a piano and understanding parents). A typical rehearsal goes like this: Bill sets up his drums in the dinning room. Joe Rodriguez sits at the piano in the living room. John Sargent tries a few notes on his saxophone. Chuck Moore tries to get the amplifier for his “take-off” guitar working. It merely causes static. Gary Waldo gets a screwdriver and patiently goes to work, trying to fix it, Chuck finally kicks it a couple of time, then drops it on the floor and it works perfectly. Jack Moore, leader of the Rock Kings, plugs his bass guitar into the amplifier.

Style Is Mixed

Their style is “beat” music – a sort of jungle jazz and mixture of rock and roll and jazz.

Ron Chrisco, a disc jockey, believes that the Rock Kings have the talent to become extremely popular. He said he receives many request for their record on his show.

Rudy Tellez, radio program director of KTSM, said, “We auditioned the boys and thought they deserved an exposure. So, we had them on ‘4:30 Hop’ over channel nine. They play music teenagers can dance to.”

He said that he felt rock and roll music had brought a great many youngsters out into the open and helped them to express themselves musically.

The Rock Kings also appeared once on KROD-TV.