Socorro Mission and Cemetery

We'd like to encourage more travelers to get off I-10 and explore the Mission Trail area, just east of El Paso.  One of our favorite missions is one in Socorro, described on the Mission Trail Association website:

"The Socorro Mission exudes a sense of strength and dignity with its six-foot-thick adobe walls and massive vigas. The Socorro Mission shares the distinction of being among the oldest continuous settlements in the Southwest, as well as being one of the oldest continuously operated missions in Texas.

The original Franciscan mission, “Nuestra Señora de la Concepción del Socorro” was completed in 1691. Admired for its traditional adobe craftsmanship, unique design details, and for its role in resonating cultural heritage, the current Socorro Mission (dedicated in 1843) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

If you go, take a look at the nearby cemetery, with original grave markers, including this one mirroring the architecture of the mission.

Visitor information:

Address:  328 S. Nevarez Rd., El Paso, TX 79927
Hours of Operation:  10am-4pm (M-F); 9am-6pm (Sat); 9am-1pm (Sun)
For More Information: (915) 859-7718

One of our very favorite shots.....

This cemetery marker mirrors the roofline of the
Soccoro Mission along El Paso County's
Mission Trail

We really enjoy exploring the Mission Trail communities in El Paso County, and every now and then, we see something truly special.  Consider this grave marker in the cemetery by the Socorro Mission.  What thought and care must have taken place to build this special marker?

Visit it yourself, click here for more information!

Touring the Mission Trail

Have you wanted to tour El Paso's Mission Trail, but didn't want to drive yourself...or you wanted someone to share the incredible history of the area with you?  Now you can get aboard the Mission Trail Experience, a guided van tour to take you to all the neat places along the Trail.

Recently, we heard from the folks at the Mission Trail Experience, and they described their tour this way: 

Confined to plutonium-powered DeLoreans and unwieldy telephone booths, time travel is a dangerous and mischief-baiting activity. Instead, let history repeat itself as often as you can stand it with a tour on the Mission Trail Experience.

Choose between the following options: For $25, you get a ticket for the San Elizario Historic District Tour. For $40, you get a ticket for the entire 9-mile corridor, Mission Trail Tour. Mission Trail Experience walks history lovers through El Paso's past on tours that explore museums and offer eyes feasts of architecture dating back to the days of Spanish colonization. The three- to four-hour tour of the San Elizario historical district pauses at 17 sites of local and historical importance, such as the colonial Presidio Chapel and the Old County Jail. Embark on the four- to five-hour Mission Trail tour to venture farther afield, visiting the colonial Ysleta and Socorro missions, along with the San Elizario chapel and the Tigua Indian Cultural Center.

Both tours include lunch and allow sightseers time to peruse nearby art galleries and shops, ideal for purchasing souvenirs that can prove your whereabouts to jealous golden retrievers. Though not included in the value, the shuttle service connects the tours to eight local hotels ($8 charge), with rides available to and from the tour sites. See It! Feel It! Believe It!

For more information, visit the Mission Trail Experience's website, here.

Beautiful on the outside, beautiful on the inside

Our last day in this series on the three El Paso Missions shows the interiors of each.  In order, (top to bottom):  San Elizario, Ysleta, Socorro.  The adobe buildings are BEAUTIFUL on the outside, as you've seen in our previous postings, but we want to encourage you to stop and experience the inside of each mission too.  For more information on the Missions and tour opportunities, click here to visit the El Paso Mission Association website. 

Socorro Mission Restoration

During the restoration project

The beauty of the Socorro Mission (featured yesterday) is evident to us because hardworking individuals and visionary organizations started a five year restoration project in 2000.  Today, we feature some photographs of the interior of the Mission during that restoration, some links to historical photographs of the mission, and a history of that restoration.

A TREAT:  During the Texas Centennial in 1936, a series of documentary photographs were taken of the mission, and are now held in the Historic American Building Survey in the Library of Congress.  Take a look, click here!  And here!

Feature article about the mission and the restoration, written by one of the key restoration partners.  Beautiful photographs are included in this article.

Community Cornerstones Partnership did the restoration.  Their website, says this about the mission and the restoration:  "Spanish and Piro Indian refugees fleeing the Pueblo Revolt founded the village of Socorro del Sur in 1680. The new community soon erected a church building of jacal construction. By 1744 a larger, permanent church was built. Beautiful vigas painted with flowers and geometric designs supported the roof. In 1829, devastating floods destroyed the church, but parishioners were able to salvage many of the vigas and corbels. The nave of the present structure, La Purísima, was dedicated in 1843. The bell wall, sanctuary and transepts, and right sacristy and mortuary were added by 1887.

Unfortunately, in the twentieth century the exterior of the church was cement plastered and a concrete collar was installed. Trapped moisture, aggravated by a leaking roof, damaged the walls and rotted the ends of several vigas and corbels. The west wall began to slump. In 1999, Cornerstones' Pat Taylor helped complete a preservation plan describing the history of La Purísima, the current condition of the building, and the work needed to stabilize it and restore its original beauty. The preservation process has included making 20,000 adobe bricks to replace damaged adobes in the foundation, walls, and roof parapets. Extensive structural repairs and interior mud and lime plastering have been completed. The restoration is now in its final phase that includes interior finish details, and front façade/bell tower repairs. In November 2004, the site received a Save America's Treasures appropriation award. Preservation is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2005."A detailed history of the restoration project is also available at the El Paso County website.

Would you like to visit the El Paso Missions?  A new tour service is now available.  Click here for more information! 

Socorro Mission on our Mission Trail

This is our second of five days this week featuring the El Paso County Mission Trail, and today we're showing Socorro Mission and the adjacent cemetery.  The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

From the El Paso Mission Trail Association website, a bit of its history: "The Rio Grande played havoc on the locations of this charming mission.  It took its name from Socorro of the North (New Mexico).  The Piro Indians fled this area after the Pueblo Revolt of 1860 and established their new home.  Sixty Piro families along with fifteen Spanish families dedicated the mission to Nuestra Senora de Limpia Concepcion de los Piros de Socorro del Sur (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of the Piros of Socorro of the South).  
      In 2005 the mission completed a 10 year restoration that showcases some original cypress roof supports called vigas (beams) that were decorated by the Piro Indians.  The striking architecture reflects the vibrant local community with numerous historic haciendas within walking distance:  Casa Apodaca, The Bookery, Casa Ortiz, and Casa Carbajal."

See how the craftsman echoed the architecture of the mission in the grave's marker?  The Mission is still home for an active congregation, and a respectful stroll through the cemetery reveals a great deal about the community still using the mission as its church.

Tomorrow, we'll feature photographs from the restoration, plus provide a link to some neat 1936 photographs of the Mission now in the Historic American Buildings Survey in the Library of Congress!

You can visit the missions on your own, or take advantage of a new tour service...for more information, click here.

Note:  Wednesday is a special day for us, and we'll take a break in the series on the El Paso Mission Trail to celebrate our 1000th post in this blog!

Off the Trail, but a Place Worth Visiting: Rio Vista Farm

One of the most interesting "off the trail" locations in El Paso County, located at 800 Rio Vista Road in Socorro, not far from the Socorro Mission...here's the information from the site's historical marker:
"El Paso County's second poor farm, known as the El Paso Poor Farm, was established here in 1915.

John O'Shea, a wealthy farmer and businessman whose farm was nearby, assumed operation of the farm. His wife, Agnes O'Shea, was in charge of the residents. John O'Shea died in 1929, and the couple's daughter, Helen O'Shea Keleher, came from her home in San Antonio to operate the farm with her mother. The farm was scheduled to be closed in 1929, but, with the troubled times of the Depression era, its population grew. Renamed "Rio Vista Farm," the poor farm hosted a variety of public welfare programs beginning in the 1930s. It operated under the Texas Transient Bureau and later the Federal Works Progress Administration. A temporary base for a Civilian Conservation Corps unit in 1936, the farm continued to shelter hundreds of homeless and destitute adults and children.

From 1951 to 1964, the farm was used as a reception and processing center for the Bracero Program, which brought Mexican laborers to work in the lower valley of El Paso and other agricultural areas in the U.S. New federal welfare programs and state law reduced the population of the poor farm to four, and it was closed in 1964. Unlike other Texas county poor farms, Rio Vista followed a familial rather than institutional model, accepting neglected and abandoned children in addition to the adult indigent population. In later life, Helen O'Shea Keleher cited the fifty years she spent with the more than four thousand orphans and neglected children of the Rio Vista Poor Farm as her proudest accomplishment."

Oh, and it was used as a set for the movie, Traffic.  Imagine Catherine Zeta-Jones strolling through the grounds of the farm and through the imaginary town plaza....

Soccoro Mission on the El Paso Valley Mission Trail

The Socorro Mission is one of three missions still used by active congregations in El Paso County.  Visitors are welcomed, and are asked to respect the parishioners and the regular services at the church.
From the Mission Trail website:  "The Rio Grande played havoc on the locations of this charming mission. It took its name from Socorro of the North (New Mexico). The Piro Indians fled this area after the Pueblo Revolt of 1860 and established their new home. Sixty Piro families along with fifteen Spanish families dedicated the mission to Nuestra Senora de Limpia Concepcion de los Piros de Socorro del Sur (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of the Piros of Socorro of the South)."
"In 2005 the mission completed a 10 year restoration that showcases some original cypress roof supports called vigas (beams) that are were decorated by the Piro Indians."

You can read more about the Mission Trail here and here.

Socorro Mission Restoration

A mission has been a part of life in Socorro (in eastern El Paso County) ever since the first one was founded after the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, and dedicated in 1682.  Since Socorro is on the Rio Grande, floods have plagued the area, destroying several mission churches.  This one, built in 1843, went through an impressive restoration, which was completed in 2005.  Read about it here and learn how this beautiful structure--along with its five foot thick adobe walls--was brought back from the brink of destruction.

Interior of Socorro Mission

Taken during renovation, this lovely altar graces Socorro Mission, part of El Paso County's Mission Trail.