Silver Dollar Cafe
1021 S. Mesa, El Paso, TXEl Paso has been described as a classic boom town or an "instant city." With the arrival of the railroads in 1881, businessmen, unskilled workers, tramps, thieves, gamblers, and prostitutes poured into this isolated frontier environment. Historian C. L. Sonnichsen writes that El Paso in the gay nineties was one of the most sinful towns in the United States, on a par with other "sporting centers" like New York, New Orleans, and the Barbary Coast.
By 1890 a red-light district was firmly established in the downtown area. A gentle- man's agreement between the civic authorities and the madams drew the original boundaries for the zone at Overland Street on the north, Second Street on the south, Stanton Street on the east, and El Paso Street on the west. As long as prostitution was limited to this area, it was tolerated. By the 1920s, however, the red-light zone found itself pushed against the Rio Grande, between Eighth Street and the river. It is here that El Paso's last early brothel, the Silver Dollar Cafe, was constructed in 1922.
Tom Walker, one of the zone's brothel keepers--with Lucy Stevenson, Fred Lopez, and his wife Ruby, --had a sympathetic interest in the girls' living conditions. "I saw their old cribs on South El Paso Street", he said; "they had no sanitary facilities and only beaver board partitions. I decided to put up some better quarters, got to feeling around, and opened up the district...." Walker financed the operation, which was run by the Lopezes.
The building consists of 14 two-room units (cribs) that were furnished with a bed, a chair, a washstand, and sometimes a chifforobe. The largest unit facing the corner was used as a restaurant serving Mexican food and a bar that, despite Prohibition, served beer and hard liquor smuggled from Juarez.
Architecturally, the Silver Dollar is noteworthy. In most instances, brothels tended to be indistinguishable from other structures in their basic building form. Frequently, older buildings constructed for other purposes were adapted as brothels, or newly-constructed brothels would follow the general configuration of local tenements or apartments, in part to provide a degree of anonymity. South El Paso tenements tended to be rectangular, two-story structures, and thus the L-shaped, single-story, courtyard style of the Silver Dollar was a rarity for the city. That form would seem to anticipate that of motels in succeeding decades. Large-scale urban renewal projects in South El Paso in the 1960s and early 1970s removed much of the early 20th-century housing stock of the area, leaving the Silver Dollar as a one-of-a-kind structure. It should be noted that South El Paso in general had very high-density development, and the relative spaciousness of the Silver Dollar complex was exceptional.
The Silver Dollar was not used as a brothel in the traditional sense. Each girl paid five dollars per day rent for her crib and kept anything over that amount. They determined their own rates and hours and acted independently. In the thirties, the going rate was $1.00 for a fifteen-minute session. The front entrance to each room consisted of a dutch door. Each girl stood or sat behind the door and opened the top half to indicate availability. By closing the interior door that connected the two rooms in each unit, 28 individual cribs could be created opening to the front and back of the building.
The vice squad, under Police Chief Butchofsky, occasionally raided and closed down the Silver Dollar during the thirties, but after a few days, it was always able to reopen. The beginning of World War II, with its vast migration of soldiers, gave the Silver Dollar the opportunity for one last boom. The cribs were filled with pretty Louisiana and Oklahoma girls who now charged $3.00 a session. This boom was not to last, however. The intense competition from Juarez, Mexico, only 300 yards across the Rio Grande, the pressure from the military authorities in Fort Bliss, and, more importantly, the changing times led to the demise of the Silver Dollar, which closed its doors forever in 1944. An era in El Paso's history came to an end and the structure has been used for apartments since that time.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
The University of Texas at Austin, founded in 1883, is one of the largest universities in the United States and has produced many notable alumni, including several U.S. presidents.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, El Paso County became an important stopping point along the Camino Real, a trade route connecting Mexico City with Santa Fe. Spanish settlers established the town of San Elizario in 1789 as a waystation for travelers. The settlement grew as more people arrived, including Mexican and American traders, and it became a center for ranching and farming.
In the mid-19th century, El Paso County experienced significant changes brought about by the Mexican-American War and the subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. With the establishment of the new border between Mexico and the United States, El Paso became a strategic area for trade and military operations. Fort Bliss, one of the oldest Army posts in the Southwest, was established in the area in 1848 to protect American settlers and the new border.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, El Paso County experienced a population boom due to the growth of mining, agriculture, and the railroad industry. The city of El Paso, which was incorporated in 1873, played a pivotal role in these developments. As a border town, it served as a gateway for trade with Mexico and witnessed significant cultural and demographic changes as diverse groups of immigrants arrived seeking economic opportunities.
Today, El Paso County continues to be an important region characterized by a unique blend of cultures, influenced by its rich history and its location on the U.S.-Mexico border. With a population of over 800,000, it is a vibrant center of commerce, education, and tourism, attracting visitors from both sides of the border and beyond.
El Paso County Timeline
This timeline provides a condensed summary of the historical journey of El Paso County, Texas.
- 1682: Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate claims the El Paso area for Spain.
- 1827: El Paso del Norte is established as a new Mexican border town.
- 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, transferring the El Paso region from Mexico to the United States.
- 1850: El Paso becomes part of the newly formed Texas state.
- 1881: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reaches El Paso, spurring rapid growth and development.
- 1888: El Paso County is officially organized, with El Paso as the county seat.
- 1909: The Chamizal dispute is resolved, confirming the Rio Grande as the border between the United States and Mexico.
- 1916: The Mexican Revolution spills over into El Paso County, resulting in military clashes and tension along the border.
- 1924: The construction of the iconic Paso del Norte International Bridge is completed, further strengthening El Paso's role as a major border crossing.
- 1951: The Korean War leads to increased military presence in El Paso County, with the establishment of Fort Bliss.
- 1963: The El Paso Museum of Art is opened, showcasing a diverse collection of artwork from around the world.
- 1993: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is implemented, further boosting trade and economic activity in El Paso County.