Pioneer Plaza Comemorates History
Pioneer Plaza, the historical center of downtown El Paso, was the location of the Ponce de León Ranch, which was founded in 1827. The plaza evolved from the site of an old irrigation canal that transferred water to nearby vineyards and fields. During the town’s turbulent frontier days, residents posted handwritten notices, often inflamatory, on the “Newspaper Tree,” an old cottonwood in the plaza. By 1881, with the arrival of the railroad, the collection of scattered adobes and ramshackle saloons became a boomtown and the newspaper tree was replaced by the printed newspaper.
In 1905, the little plaza officially was named Pioneer Plaza in honor of El Paso’s founders. Ten years later, Mayor Tom Lea, Sr. and the city council planned to erect a monument on the plaza to commemorate the city’s pioneers. The dream was not realized until the installation of the Fray García Monument 91 years later (Sept. 26, 1996).