Visit El Paso

Spain sought to protect its interests in the northern frontier by establishing a network of presidios (military forts). A presidia was built in 1684 in El Paso del Norte. In 1789, a presidio named after San Elcear (San Elceario), the French patron saint of soldiers, was established at the site of the Hacienda de los Tiburcios, located some thirty miles downriver from El Paso del Norte. The settlement that grew up around the presidia became known as San Elizario (a corrupted version of San Elcear). The presidio included a post chapel that served the soldiers and their families. The flood of 1829 destroyed the original chapel, which was rebuilt in the same vicinity. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821,the importance of the presidio diminished. San Elizario gradually became a prosperous farming community and became the first seat of El Paso County government in 1850. The present-day chapel was completed in 1882. Since then, the exterior of the building has changed little, except for the front fac