Duranguito

[3] This area has a rich history ranging from the Mexican Revolution on, but recently regained prominence in 2016 when the El Paso city government voted to demolish the neighborhood in favor of a new arena.

[6] Barrio Duranguito was settled in 1827 by Juan María Ponce de Leon when the wealthy merchant purchased 215 acres of land across the north bank of the Rio Grande for an ayuntamiento where he established a ranch consisting of farms and several adobe roundhouses.

[1] The famed Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was also known to frequent the area, as he spent his days there following his exile from Mexico.

[2] Architectural historian and professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, Max Grossman began a legal battle against the City in 2017 in hopes of preserving historical buildings in the area.

[1] In November 2017, the City put up fences around much of the neighborhood of Duranguito to prepare for its demolition and brought in bulldozers[11] that began to partially demolish buildings even before the proper archeological studies of the area were made.

[12] In 2018 Grossman organized a conference to propose the development of an historic district in Duranguito that would preserve much of the buildings and housing in the neighborhood.

Completed in 1904, the brick and stucco building was used as a brothel and is a relic of the romanticized "old-west" period in Texas history.

[15] This building is located at 216 W Overland Avenue and is one of the last remaining relics of the original Chinese immigrant community in Barrio Duranguito.

[18] In November 1915, the U.S. government raided the house and confiscated $30,000 in jewelry and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.