NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National RegisterSBR of Historic Places Registration Draft Form v 1. Name of Property

Historic Name: Patterson Apartments Other name/site number: Martin Coyne Apartments (c.1940 – c.1965) Name of related multiple property listing: NA

2. Location

Street & number: 1217 N. Mesa St. City or town: El Paso State: Texas County: El Paso Not for publication:  Vicinity: 

3. State/Federal Agency Certification

As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this ( nomination  request for determination of eligibility) meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ( meets  does not meet) the National Register criteria.

I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following levels of significance:  national  statewide  local

Applicable National Register Criteria:  A  B  C  D

State Historic Preservation Officer ______Signature of certifying official / Title Date

Texas Historical Commission State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property  meets  does not meet the National Register criteria.

______Signature of commenting or other official Date

______State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government

4. National Park Service Certification

I hereby certify that the property is:

___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register. ___ removed from the National Register ___ other, explain: ______

______Signature of the Keeper Date of Action United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

5. Classification

Ownership of Property

X Private Public - Local Public - State Public - Federal

Category of Property

X (s) district site structure object

Number of Resources within Property

Contributing Noncontributing 2 0 0 0 sites 0 0 structures 0 0 objects 2 0 total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: NA

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions: Domestic: multiple dwelling

Current Functions: Housing apartments

7. Description

Architectural Classification: Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival

Principal Exterior Materials: Brick, Stone: Marble, Terra Cota, Glass

Narrative Description (see continuation sheets 7-6 through 7-9)

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria : A

Criteria Considerations: NA

Areas of Significance: Community Planning and Development, Social History: Women's History (local level)

Period of Significance: 1917

Significant Dates: 1917

Significant Person (only if criterion b is marked): NA

Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion d is marked): NA

Architect/Builder: Beutell, Huss Melanchthon (architect), R.E. McKee (builder)

Narrative Statement of Significance (see continuation sheets 8-10 through 8-17)

9. Major Bibliographic References

Bibliography (see continuation sheet 9-18 through 9-19)

Previous documentation on file (NPS): __ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. Part 1 approved on (date) __ previously listed in the National Register __ previously determined eligible by the National Register __ designated a National Historic Landmark __ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #

Primary location of additional data: _x State historic preservation office (Texas Historical Commission, Austin) __ Other state agency __ Federal agency __ Local government __ University __ Other -- Specify Repository:

Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): NA

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property: less than 1 acre

Coordinates

Latitude/Longitude Coordinates

Datum if other than WGS84: NA

Latitude: 31.76674º Longitude: -106.49423º

Verbal Boundary Description: Property ID# 279693 "10 ALEXANDER 8 TO 10 (9516 SQ FT)" and shown on Map 1. Accessed April 28, 2021.

Boundary Justification These are the lots historically associated with the nominated building.

11. Form Prepared By

Name/title: Martin Davenport, Historian Organization: NA Street & number: P.O. Box 563 City or Town: Alto State: NM Zip Code: 88312 Email: [email protected] Telephone: 575-973-3238 Date: April 16, 2021

Additional Documentation

Maps (see continuation sheets Map-20 through Map-22)

Additional items (see continuation sheets Figures-23 through Figures-30)

Photographs (see continuation sheets Photos-31 through Photos-48)

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

Photograph Log

Name of Property: Patterson Apartments City or Vicinity El Paso County, State El Paso County, Texas Photographer Martin Davenport Date Photographed April 2019, March 2021 and June 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0001: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0011: Façade on N Mesa, camera facing SW, Mar. 2021 Typical apartment , camera facing west, Mar.2021 TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0002: Façade and SE elevation, camera facing west, Mar. TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0012: 2021 Apartment 541, camera facing east, Mar. 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0003: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0013: Façade and NW elevation, camera facing west, Mar. Refurbished , new cabinets, appliances, granite 2021 counter top, June 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0004: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0014: NW elevation and rear of building, camera facing east, Typical remodeled , historic tub, camera April 2019 facing east, Mar. 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0005: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0015: Rear of building and one-story apartment addition, Bathroom remodel with tile shower, camera facing camera facing north, Mar. 2021 east, Mar. 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0006: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0016: Historic-age , camera facing west, Mar.2021 Typical 2-panel wooden , April 2019

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0007: TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0017: Entrance on N. Mesa, Camera facing SW, Mar.2021 Apartment addition after remodel, camera facing south, June 2021 TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0008: First landing from entry , camera facing TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0018: SW, June 2021 City-scape looking SE down N Mesa from 5th floor , Mar. 2021 TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0009: Typical stair landing and vintage chandelier, camera facing SE, April 2019 TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0011:

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0010: , , camera facing south, Mar. 2021

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

Narrative Description1

The 1917 Patterson Apartments is a five-story, three-part vertical block Classical Revival-influenced apartment building in El Paso, Texas. It is less than one mile northeast of downtown El Paso on North Mesa Street, a busy commercial thoroughfare that leads to the University of Texas at El Paso and the city's westside residential neighborhoods. Patterson Apartments is on a corner lot that slopes southward with an asphalt parking lot and six-stall brick garage, a contributing resource, behind it. The red brick building has a concrete structural system and with marble and cast stone . Corinthian pilasters, a simple entablature, arched marble entrance, and arched 5th-floor are the building's distinguishing exterior features. Its L-plan is intact with four apartments per floor, and the building retains its characteristic historic glazed sleeping , tiled entrance foyer, and original Otis elevator. A ca. 1960 1-story addition on the southwest (rear) corner does not significantly detract from the design, and Patterson Apartments retains excellent integrity as an early 20th-century apartment building.

Setting

Patterson Apartments is at 1217 N. Mesa Street less than one mile northwest of downtown and 0.75 miles northeast of the Texas-Mexico border in Central El Paso. It is in the Alexander Addition, one of the city's first platted subdivisions, with streets laid in an orthogonal grid oriented southeast to northwest. The nominated building faces northeast to Mesa Street at the northeast corner of a block bounded by E. California Ave. (northwest), E. Nevada Ave. (southeast), and N. Oregon St. (southwest). Mesa Street is a broad roadway once lined with upscale multi- and single-family residences, commercial and ecclesiastical buildings from the early 20th century. Today, post-WWII and 21st century commercial and educational buildings infill nearby blocks. There are also many extant historic resources. Patterson Apartments shares a block with the 1905 Trost & Trost-designed Zack White mansion (1201 Mesa St.) and the 1910 Casa Blanca Apartments (1210 Oregon St.) Six other multi-story apartment buildings contemporaneous to the nominated property are within one square mile. (Figure 4)2

The nominated boundary is a rectangular parcel of three city lots less than one acre in size at the corner of N. Mesa Street and E. California Avenue. Patterson Apartments is an approximately 18,000 square foot building with a footprint measuring 72-by-66 feet. It abuts the sidewalks that border these two roads with a narrow driveway along the southeast elevation. Like Mesa Street, East California Avenue slopes down. Because of this east-west grade change, the rear parking lot and garage are below street level. Historic-age stone (construction date unknown) and modern chain link fence line the property's perimeter. The stone , made of large rubble and cement, begins at the driveway entrance off N. Mesa and extends to the rear property line. Chain link fencing, including a small gate, runs along the alleyway above the garage to the property's northwest corner where it meets remnants of the corner stone

1 National Register Survey Form, NRS4-10868, 1975. Five-story apartment building with symmetrical façade facing east onto N. Mesa Street; grey rounded marble with keystone on street level; 1/1 light windows, simple entablature supported by Corinthian pilasters between fourth and fifth ; round arched windows at fifth floor. 2 Most of the buildings on N Mesa belonged to influential businessmen, professionals, and organizations in El Paso. The of two-time Mayor Charles Kelly and the Mesa and Cornelia Apartments filled the 900 block. In the 1000 block stood the large home of real estate agent Henry Pfaff, the Frank Ainsa (Ainsa Produce) mansion at 1011 N Mesa and Bishop Anthony Shuler’s residence across Arizona from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which covered the east side of the 1100 block. The 1200 block of N Mesa included Zach White’s mansion at 1201, the Knickerbocker Apartments on the southeast corner of E California, and the Patterson Apartments on the southwest corner. The large Frank Powers (Pres. of EP Times) stood at 1301 N Mesa; the El Paso Women’s Club was in the 1400 block; and the Adolph Schwartz house, Frank Brown house, and Ben Levy house were all in the 1500 block. Buildings ended in the 2200 block at Blanchard in 1918 but Mesa road continued on for several miles. The apartments were built in an up-scale part of town on N Mesa that historian Hollingshed described as “El Paso’s Fifth Avenue.” Condensed from Hollingsed, Password, 107

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wall. Again, chain link runs along E. California Ave to a stone gate directly behind Patterson Apartments. Several young trees are within circular planters on a raised of pavers with the parking lot and narrow garage below.

Patterson Apartments

Patterson Apartments is a five-story, red-brick three-part vertical block with a L-plan, flat , concrete structural frame and foundation. In general, fenestration is symmetrical with 1/1 historic-age windows. Classical Revival ornament is expressed in brick, cast stone, and marble. The three-part vertical composition is: base (ground floor), shaft (floors two through four), and capital (fifth floor). The distinguishing feature of the façade is a central entrance with a full marble arch and keystone surround accessing wooden double entry doors topped with a three-light arched transom. From the second to the fourth floors, a simple entablature is supported by Corinthian pilasters and pressed tin cornice that extends around to the northwest and southeast elevations and partially on the rear elevation (facing southwest). Arched windows, two , and ceramic tile decorations characterize the fifth floor. The rear of the building lacks architectural features but contains a wrought iron fire escape, metal entry door, stucco-clad alteration, wooden-sash single hung lights, and a one-story brick addition. The floor plan (excluding the addition) features a central with two apartments on each side, stair landings on each end, and the elevator on the center south side. The original sprinkler system in the provides additional security in a fireproof building. Apartments facing northwest on the second through fifth floors—E California side—feature glassed-in sleeping . Apartments on the second through the 5th floor, south corner, have a built-in sun (or sleeping porch), and apartments on the N Mesa side have balcony access. Including the addition, there are 20 separate apartments with a laundry and an electric self-serve elevator (currently inoperable). The elevator was an important addition. "By 1918, however, the automatic Otis push-button elevator was also widely used in other buildings where intermittent service prevailed in buildings of moderate size, from three to eight stories. These small commercial installations included apartment , like Westminister Apartments in San Francisco" 3 and the Patterson Apartments in El Paso. A brick and concrete patio fills in the distance between the historic garage and the apartments.

Northeast (Front) Elevation

The façade facing N. Mesa has five bays—a central bay and two adjacent bays. The central bay features an arched marble entry with marble keystone, wooden double doors with full lights, and a transom. The wooden entry doors and three-light transom are recent additions (early 2021) but do not detract from the historical integrity of the entry. Historic period-style lamps light each side of entry arch. A marble bullseye and concrete band at the second-floor sill level extend around the building and marks the top of the classical base. The interior bay contains the entry alcove and wooden-sash windows with concrete sills that light the stair landings between the floors in this bay. A single arched light on the fifth floor completes the center bay. Adjacent bays on each side of the center bay feature a fenestration pattern of three lights on the first, third, and fourth floors. The second and 5th-floor levels contain wooden-sash single French doors accessing wrought-iron balconies, although the 5th-floor opening on the left is a full glass door. The exterior bays are flanked by decorative Corinthian topped pilasters and a simple entablature with pressed tin cornice between the fourth and fifth floors and marks the beginning of the capital in a classical description. A wooden mullion separates four-over-two lights in coupled French doors that access small balconies on the third and fourth floors.

Northwest Elevation

3 Technological Systems Compete at Otis Hydraulic Versus Electric , Anne Millbrook, p. 20 at https://ethw.org/w/images/3/32/Millbrooke%2C_Technological_Systems_Compete_at_Otis.pdf https://ethw.org/The_Electric_Elevator

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Three-part vertical-block orientation begins at the street level base with a concrete band separating the base and the and a tin cornice supporting the fifth floor. A symmetrical orientation with Corinthian topped pilasters defines the three bays. The center bay's most notable characteristic is glassed-in banks of six-coupled lights on the 2nd to 5th floor. Wooden sash 8/1 windows pierce the exterior bays with an arched light in the 5th-floor exterior bays. The bottom floor is below grade on the west corner, and inside is the boiler room and laundry. Arched single-hung wooden windows on the fifth floor of the two exterior bays

Southwest (Rear) Elevation

The rear elevation of the building has little of the architectural features on the other three elevations, although the pilasters and entablature extend around the western corner. The pilasters flank a wooden-sash single-hung on the second floor, double French doors on the third and fourth floors, and an arched window on the fifth floor. Four unadorned wooden-sash single-hung windows with cement sills rise in the second through fifth floors. A wrought iron fire escape allows an exit from the fifth floor to ground level and wooden-sash escape windows at each landing with a commercial metal door at ground level. Next to the fire escape, a row of aluminum-sash coupled windows rise to the fifth floor. A sleeping porch was framed in and filled with aluminum-sash windows to the south of the fire escape. South-facing banks of four wooden-sash fixed lights fill in what may have been a or open sleeping porch.

Southeast Elevation

Distinguishing features of the easternmost elevation include decorative Corinthian pilasters on each corner of floors two, three, and four supporting a simple entablature with tin cornice. Single-hung wooden-sash windows with a concrete sill reflect the same pattern of symmetrical fenestration shown in the facade. The 5th floor features two arched windows, decorative tile inserts, and a tin cornice at the base of a brick parapet.

The southeast inset portion of the building wing features unadorned coupled wooden-sash single-hung windows with cement sills and headers on the 2nd through 5th floors. Here there are also cement headers to the right of the smaller wooden-sash single-hung windows. Visible in this elevation are the individual heating/cooling units in some of the windows. Unlike the 5th-floor fenestration on the façade, the 5th-floor lights are unadorned.

Addition

The addition's exterior is more easily defined as a separate profile from the historical L-shape Patterson building as it fills in the L-shape footprint on the ground floor. The ca. 1960-1970 addition contains two apartments, one accessed through the southeast and the other through the northwest. The one-story addition is differentiated from the Patterson in materials (harder exterior brick, concrete slab floor) and fenestration (fixed windows in the south elevation with wooden mullions and metal grillwork over the windows). One original apartment in the Patterson building was altered when the addition was added. The bathroom, kitchen, and parlor of the original now function as kitchen, bathroom, and for the addition (Figure 1). This apartment is accessed through a metal frame door with a transom and accompanying fixed light. The addition does not detract from the historical integrity of the resource.

Interior The main entrance from N. Mesa is accented by a marble entry arch and a small, three-foot-deep entry foyer with tile floor, brick walls, and a vaulted stucco ceiling with matching brick arch in the interior. The interior floor plans are identical on each floor, with four apartments equally accessed by two apartments on each side of the . The exception is the original apartment converted into the newer addition. There are on each end of the hall, the elevator door in the center, and a fire escape door at the west end of the upper four stories. Interior features include

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hardwood flooring, baseboard, and door molding. The floor plan, materials and design are historically intact and rarely altered since 1918. Interior alterations include removing the boiler and the steam heating pipes and changing the south corner-first floor apartment into the recent addition. The Otis electric elevator (machine #81682) located in the center of the building on the east side is inoperable. Still, it retains the original grillwork, elevator car, and electric motor. Each apartment has a louvered front door and wooden 2-panel interior doors. The boiler system originally provided apartments with steam heat, but individual electric baseboard room heaters and air-conditioning window units currently regulate the building's interior temperature. A modern ceiling fan in each apartment contrasts with the historic-age overhead sprinkler system. The largest six apartments are over 800 square feet, the smallest seven are 464 to 481 square feet, and five units are in-between with 676 square feet. Windows and balcony access offer unobstructed views of the El Paso/Juarez cityscape.

Garage The historic-period brick garage contains six stalls on a concrete slab covered by a flat roof. The original wooden doors were removed at an undetermined time and replaced with the current metal doors. The smaller stall size in width and depth reflects the time when autos were smaller. As autos increased in size through the 1920s, the smaller garage spaces became obsolete and at some point were turned into storage units.

Alterations and Integrity

Alterations to the original building occurred at an unknown date when the sun rooms, or sleeping porches in the south corner of floors two through five, were framed-in, clad in stucco and aluminum sash windows were installed. It appears that the now closed-in rooms may have been open "sleeping-porches." The only addition to the property occurred in the 1960s or 1970s on the southwest side where a single-story two-unit apartment was built with access from the patio or driveway. The difference in brick materials, fenestration, and entry differentiate it from the historical building and it does not detract from the integrity of the resource. The current owners purchased the building in 2019 and over the last two years proceeded to renovate the apartments one at a time as the tenants lease expired. Currently all twenty apartments have been modernized to include new kitchen cabinets, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances; bathroom fixtures—tiled showers in two but retaining the original porcelain tubs in the rest; and, refinished original hardwood floors. The owners are seeking nomination in the hopes of utilizing state and federal tax incentives for a full rehabilitation.

Patterson Apartments retains good integrity to communicate its historical significance. The nominated building faces N. Mesa Avenue at its original corner site. Demolition along the busy thoroughfare negatively affected the immediate setting, but extant early 20th century apartment buildings on adjacent streets testify to the neighborhood's historic character. Patterson Apartments retains its historic design, materials, and workmanship. Classical Revival style is expressed in the primary façade's symmetrical fenestration, engaged pilasters, and heavy cornice. Intact features unique to the era include its red brick construction, sleeping porches, the rear 1920s garage. Historic materials— hardwood floors, wooden base boards and moldings, two and four-panel interior wooden doors, louvered doors, wooden-sash windows, and wrought-iron balconies—are present throughout the building. The building's arched marble entrance with interior tiling and overall good condition is a testament to the workmanship. Because there is preponderance of good integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship, and materials, Patterson Apartments has excellent integrity of association and feeling as an early 20th century high-rise apartment building.

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

Statement of Significance

Patterson Apartments, named for its original owner Mildred Patterson, is significant as an example of the apartment buildings affluent El Paso women invested in during the city's early 20th-century residential building boom. Between 1880 and 1920, El Paso's population exploded in response to the arrival and expansion of the railroad. City leaders and boosters promoted the construction of apartments and tenements to meet the high demand for housing the city's white and ethnic Mexican citizenry. Architect-designed apartments, first introduced to El Paso in 1905, offered affluent and middle-class white tenants modern amenities in new neighborhoods and suburbs north of downtown. The building type was such a popular and profitable investment that by 1925, El Paso boasted more than 140 multi-story brick apartments. A small number of wealthy women, like Mildred Patterson, took part in this important era in El Paso's residential development as property investors who financed the construction of apartments. In 1917, Patterson invested her late husband's estate in erecting a $50,000 five-story brick apartment building on Mesa Avenue, a prominent thoroughfare north of downtown. Designed by architect H.M. Beutell and noted El Paso contractor R.E. McKee, Patterson Apartments provided the widow financial security, personal autonomy, and a fine home until she sold the building in 1939. Patterson Apartments is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning and Development at the local level of significance. The nominated building and other extant apartments are direct links to a specific building trend in the city's early 20th-century growth. Uniquely, Patterson Apartments represents women's contributions to El Paso's residential development during that era. The period of significance is 1917, the year it was built.

El Paso, Texas4

Early History

The Pass of the North was already on a well-known route for native peoples when the first Spanish expedition of Rodriguez-Chamuscado crossed the river near the El Paso ford in 1581.5 In 1598, Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate crossed the Rio Grande near present-day downtown El Paso and moved north to colonize New Mexico. The Pueblo Indians were severely oppressed and eventually overthrew Spanish rule in 1680. The settlers, missionaries, and Tigua and Piro Indians fled south to the El Paso Valley, where the Ysleta Mission was established in 1682. When Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, the pass of the north became part of the Republic of Mexico. In 1827, Juan Maria Ponce de Leon, a well-known Mexican citizen of El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juarez), claimed acreage on the north bank of the Rio Grande, and by 1838 he operated a ranch where the Plaza Theatre and Mills Building stand today. Ponce's Rancho became a modest but thriving agricultural and ranching enterprise. The United

4 This section was adapted from the author’s previous work, National Register of Historic Places, Magoffin Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #16000717, https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/16000717/16000717.pdf

The following five National Register historic district nominations—all listed for significance in the area of Community Planning and Development—thoroughly document El Paso’s founding through the early 20th century and contextual history related to the city’s early 20th century residential development: National Register of Historic Places, Downtown El Paso Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #100006548; National Register of Historic Places, Magoffin Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #16000717, https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/16000717/16000717.pdf); National Register of Historic Places, Montana Avenue Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #04001232, https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/04001232/04001232.pdf; National Register of Historic Places, Sunset Heights Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #88002672, https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/88002672/88002672.pdf; National Register of Historic Places, Rio Grande Avenue Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #99001140, https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/99001140/99001140.pdf. 5 Early history referenced from Walking Tour of El Paso’s Downtown District, El Paso Community Foundation, 2014.

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States-Mexico War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, established the Rio Grande as the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and located Ponce's Rancho on the American side. The larger settlements downriver— Ysleta and San Elizario—were also on the American side but still Mexican in custom, culture, and national identity. The following year, Benjamin Franklin Coons, an employee at Ponce's Rancho, bought out the enterprise and quickly rented six acres to the army for a military post. Coons then built a general store, tavern, warehouse, and stables nearby and the accompanying settlement became known as Franklin. By the 1850s, there were four or five settlements on the American side of the river: Franklin, in what is now downtown; Frontera and Hart's Mill, upriver to the northwest; and Stephenson's rancho Concordia, downriver to the southeast. James Wiley Magoffin, a prominent trader on the Santa Fe Trail, claimed a huge tract of land east of current downtown El Paso.6 The Franklin settlement was just a string of adobe houses scattered along an old trail connecting it to the ferry crossing into the Mexican city of El Paso del Norte, which was the larger town. The valley settlements were also larger in population than Franklin when both San Elizario and Ysleta served as the El Paso County seat.7

William "Uncle Billy" Smith bought the Coons ranch in 1853 but had little interest in running the ranch. Keeping a one-eighth interest for himself, he parceled it off six years later to several investors—District Judge Josiah F. Crosby, John S. and Henry S. Gillett, William J. Morton, Vincent St. Vrain, and Anthony B. Rohman.8 The investors "formed a syndicate known as the El Paso Company, and retained Anson Mills to survey a town plat."9 Mills was a good choice. He had attended West Point, served as a surveyor for the army, was proficient with surveying and mapping, and had recently designed and constructed the large Overland Building for the Butterfield Company. Mill's survey and plat were approved by the corporation in 1859, and the townsite was officially named El Paso. The town was born as a corporate venture, an investment in the potential city when the railroads arrived in the future, but it was not until 1873 that the city government was established. The social and geographic center of town was around the little plaza at the intersection of El Paso and San Francisco Streets. The few streets included El Paso, which was the road south to El Paso del Norte, and San Francisco and San Antonio streets for their respective destinations on the Butterfield Overland Mail Line. Into the 1870s, El Paso was little more than a frontier village of 700 people and a scattering of low-walled adobe buildings. Locals spoke Spanish and worked as laborers, miners, or farmers. Anglos who found their way to the town often married locally and integrated into life as a Mexican/American. The north side of the Rio Grande valley was a landscape of cottonwood-lined irrigation ditches that watered fields and orchards of grapes, peaches, and apricots. The mesa above the valley was an empty desert landscape of arroyos, mesquite, and creosote bush scrublands with little water.

Impact of Railroads

Then the railroads arrived in 1881-1882. El Paso historian Leon Metz points out that "No event in El Paso's history ever brought such spectacular and dramatic growth as the railroads."10 The railroads sparked the dynamic growth of the town and forever changed its appearance. Anticipating the arrival of the railroads and within months of the Southern Pacific rolling into town, El Paso boasted a street railway, two banks, three newspapers, four churches, an established government under Mayor Joseph Magoffin, and the largest hotel in the state.11 Into the 1880s, the town of El Paso expanded into roughly eight land divisions: 1) Anson Mills survey in the central business district; 2) Campbell Addition east of the Mills Survey, owned by the Campbell estate of St. Louis; 3) Joseph Magoffin's Additions and landholdings east of Campbell's contested boundary (settled in 1881) and south to the river; 4) east of Magoffin was

6 El Paso Herald, Mar.22, 1897, p.11 7 The El Paso County seat moved to Ysleta—the largest town in the county—in 1878 and then to El Paso in 1883. 8 C.L. Sonnichson, Pass of the North: Four Centuries on the Rio Grande (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1968), 144. 9 Leon Metz, El Paso Chronicles: A Record of Historical Events in El Paso, Texas (El Paso: Mangan Books, 1993), 45. 10 Leon Metz, Turning Points in El Paso, Texas (El Paso: Mangan Press, 1991), 49. 11 W.H. Timmons, El Paso: A Borderlands History (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1990), 173.

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the Cotton Addition platted by Frank Cotton, a Boston capitalist who bought the Manning Survey #2 from Magoffin; 5) the land C.R. Morehead bought north of the Magoffin home and platted as the Morehead Addition and later Franklin Heights; 6) mid-western businessman O.T. Bassett's property east of the Manning Survey #2, including old Magoffinsville, that he bought from Joseph Magoffin; 7) northwest of downtown, J. Fischer Satterthwaite, a New York capitalist, owned the land to be developed as Sunset Heights; and 8) Mundy Addition, northwest of Satterthwaite's, owned by the pioneer Hart family.12 The future direction of the town was literally in the hands of eight or nine individuals, and four of whom were investors from the east.13

El Paso rapidly developed as a trade, transportation, mining, and cattle center and "stimulated additional enterprises such as wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, tourism (health included), and construction which brought boom times to the El Paso Southwest."14 Five railroads were chartered by 1881 and served El Paso with destinations in all directions, including Mexico City. The local transportation network consisted of a single mule car line that remained in service until electricity replaced it in 1902. El Paso was a major stop on the first true southern transcontinental railroad system. The railroads also introduced a large population of Anglo-Americans into a historically Mexican culture which endured in south El Paso, where low-income families and immigrants from Mexico provided the labor for industry. In addition to available labor, the rapidly modernizing industrial base in El Paso needed skilled and semi-skilled tradesmen, trainmen, administrators (freight agents, accountants, clerks, and finance), and merchandising jobs (sales, advertising, warehouse staffing) to staff the gears of the modern city. Many of the immigrant workers were drawn from the areas served by the railroads, including the Texas & Pacific (T&P) and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio (GH&SA) from east Texas and the south; the Southern Pacific (SP) from the west coast; and the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) from the Midwest.

El Paso pioneer Otis C. Coles, who lived on Myrtle Avenue in the 1890s, offered his view of the city:

The population was about 12,000. At least 60 percent were Mexicans. The city covered a very small area, fully 85 percent of the population residing south of the Southern Pacific tracks. The principal residence streets were Myrtle, Magoffin, and San Antonio. A few had ventured north of the tracks as far as Arizona Street, east to Virginia and a few blocks west of Oregon Street. North of the tracks was very thinly settled.15

20th Century Development

The Franklin Mountains cut into modern-day El Paso from the north and geographically divides the city into East and West sides. However, in the 1900s, the city was divided into two cultural sides. One belonged to the Mexican barrio below 2nd Street and south of the T&P rail yards. The other cultural section belonged to the more prosperous Anglo neighborhoods north of downtown and north of the T&P rail yards.

Town boosters were proud of El Paso becoming a modern brick city with stylish and delightful neighborhoods. Larger homes and buildings were designed by architects, but many fine homes were drawn from pattern books and built by local construction companies. The regional building tradition of the southwest using adobe and local materials, flat roofs, straightforward design, little fenestration, and with the front elevation flush to the street was alien to eastern

12 Timmons, 171. 13 Timmons, El Paso “…most of the downtown area and the properties of the Magoffin and Hart families were owned by local pioneers. Two other tracts were acquired by recent arrivals, and the remaining four were in the hands of easterners.” 185. 14 Timmons, 185. 15 Otis C. Coles quote in Cleofas Calleros, El Paso, Then and Now (El Paso: American Printing Company, 1954), 62.

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ideas of modern buildings and how a neighborhood should appear. Local historian Leon Metz notes the difference in El Paso: "Railroads changed the face and complexion of El Paso as developers and builders shifted from adobe to lumber and brick. The city struggled to resemble other American communities."16 El Paso historian C. L. Sonnichson added that "All forward-looking citizens demanded frame or brick."17 Less than thirty years after the railroads introduced progress, the Chamber of Commerce proudly pointed to El Paso as a modern brick city.

In the early 1900s, municipal water became a reality north of the Southern Pacific tracks, and developers began grading roads, developing building lots, and building bungalow-type brick homes for mid-income families in Pierce- Findley, Grandview, Manhattan Heights, and upper Franklin Heights Additions, among others. More elegant and expensive homes were built to order in the Mansion District on Montana, N. Mesa, and Sunset Heights. Expansion of the streetcar lines and bus lines to Ft. Bliss and Ysleta made for easy access to downtown, and with the growing popularity of the auto after 1910, the city was in the process of spreading out from the city center. Into the 1920s, El Paso developed into an economic powerhouse and trade distributor with several hundred wholesale houses serving a territory including two countries and four states. The city was a major southwestern transportation and industrial hub into the early 1930s. At the onset of the Great Depression, the First National Bank went under, jobs disappeared, and El Paso entered a difficult period. Although hardships existed throughout the city, some avoided the worst aspects of the economy since low prices were welcome—if one had an income. The 1940 census revealed a 5% drop in population since 1930, which was modest compared to some population centers.

Residential Building Boom

El Paso's population exploded in response to the arrival and expansion of the railroad. Between 1880 and 1920 population increased from approximately 800 to 77,000.18 By 1910, city-wide home construction continued at a rapid pace with the city approving subdivision plats miles from the center. As the auto gained popularity, new subdivisions platted out in the sandhills, and growth in the lower valley toward Ysleta pulled the city outward from the central business district. Building permits for 1910-1922 showed year-over-year increases, with peaks in 1917 when city building construction was valued at $3.7 million, dropping to $640,000 in 1918 and rising again to $3.2 million in 1922.19

The city's rapid growth and accompanying spike in property value increased the need for affordable housing near the city center. Construction crews attempted to keep up with the demand by adding new apartment buildings. Apartments made economic sense to investors as an increase in density could make up for the expensive, urban land. Besides, the construction of apartment buildings with modern features was a national trend toward higher-density urban living and fostered the move in downtown El Paso. In 1910, the El Paso Herald noted that "More Rooms are in Daily Demand" and "responding to the law of supply and demand, property owners in El Paso are building apartment houses to meet the demand, which was proved to be double this winter."20 Substantial and stylish three and four-story apartment buildings went up west and north of downtown, along parts of Montana, N. Stanton, N. Mesa, N. Oregon, and along Boulevard (later renamed Yandell).

Apartment living near the downtown district was a desirable location for many. The El Paso Herald approved of apartments as a modern way of living.21 In 1914, the City Directory began listing apartments separate from rooming

16 Metz, Turning Points, 52. 17 Sonnichson, 250. 18 Metz, El Paso Chronicles, 136, 198. 19 “Records Broken in 1922 for Modern Apartment Building,” El Paso Times, May 16, 1923. 20 “Rental Demand Exceeds Supply,” El Paso Herald, March 2, 1910, p.12. 21 El Paso Herald, Aug. 29, 1914,

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houses. That year, 40 apartments were listed.22 In 1916, the number of apartments doubled to 79 and two years later, 179 apartments were listed. El Paso boasted more than 200 modern apartment buildings in 1922, but the annual rate of apartments constructed fell off precipitously after 1919. (Table 1) Landlords were justifiably proud of the new brick buildings, complete with modern conveniences and easy access to downtown. Cool, spacious sleeping porches and modern conveniences with hot water in each apartment differentiated them from the "Mexican tenements" that had communal restrooms, cramped living space, and inadequate bathing facilities. Although not precisely modern, the plain brick buildings in south El Paso were labeled as "model tenements," and a byline in one newspaper stated that there are "Scores of buildings that are sanitary and conveniently arranged are constructed in southern portion of the city for a large foreign population of workers who seek homes here."23 At times ethnic slurs pointed to the tenements as shameful with few attempts to "pretty up" the neighborhood. The view that the tenements were "foreign" created another dividing line between Anglo El Paso and Mexican El Paso.

Table 1: Increase in apartments in El Paso Year Number of listings Increase over previous year 1905 – 1914* 38 +38 1915 54 +16 1916 84 +30 1917 102 +18 1918 128 +26 1919 147 +19 1920 150 +3 *1914 is the first year apartments were separated from hotel listings.

A survey of local newspapers (1900-1930) showed El Paso women, like Mildred Patterson, took part in the city's residential development as property investors who financed the construction of apartments. In general, women apartment investors were affluent, white, and married or widowed. As individual investors, they typically constructed one property that ranged from small, four-unit apartment houses to grand, multi-level apartment buildings. Before 1913, a married women's property (even property acquired before marriage) and related income were under the exclusive control of her husband. This may have deterred women from investing in real estate during the first years of El Paso's residential building boom. It did not dissuade Mrs. Margaret Warren, whose "business foresight" resulted in the construction of the Le Roy Apartments in 1907.24 For affluent widows, Ysabel Ainsa-Flato and Harriet Clark (later Auerbach) investment in real estate ensured 10-30% returns giving them financial security and even somewhere to live. In 1913, the Texas State Legislature gave women control of their rents and other income from real property. Strengthened property rights increased the number of married El Paso women investing in real estate. However, only 8% of apartments built in El Paso during this period were woman-financed, and Patterson Apartments is one of nine extant properties representing women's contributions to El Paso's early 20th-century residential development.

22 Although not listed as apartments or rooming houses, many of the larger houses in the neighborhood were shared with relatives or rooms were rented out for extra income. 23 “Model Tenements Provide Homes for Many Families,” El Paso Herald, Aug. 29, 1914, 42. 24 “The ‘Le Roy’ Apartments,” El Paso Herald, October, 5, 1907.

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Table 2: Woman-developed Apartments 1905-192525 Name Apartment Name Address Year Status Built Ysabel Ainsa-Flato The Flato 111 W Yandell 1907 Demolished Harriet Clark Auerbach Virginia Apts. 1118 N. Oregon 1907 Extant. Good Integrity Margaret Warren Le Roy Apts. 350 W. Missouri 1907 Demolished Gertrude Sibalier Alexandria Apts. 1024 N. Oregon 1910 Demolished Minnie M. Nagley Nagley Apts. 1100 N. Ochoa 1914 Contributing, Rio Grande Ave. HD Margaret Booth Wyoming Apts. Wyoming & Stanton 1914 Demolished Alva Howell Ramsey Apts. 234 N. Missouri 1914 Demolished Hallie Bliss Robinson Robinson Apts. 1006 E. San Antonio 1916 Demolished Mildred Patterson Patterson Apts. 1217 N. Mesa 1917 Nominated Building Ella B. Howe and Maud Doane Delevan Apts. 1021 Magoffin 1917 Contributing, Magoffin HD NRHP ? Johnson ? Williams & Yandell 1918 Demolished Mary Weaver Manhattan Apts. 1155 Grant Ave. 1921 Extant. Good Integrity Helen Gilroy Gilroy Apts. 1508 N. Stanton 1921 Extant. Good Integrity Anna Reum Rosewood Apts. 152 Newman St. 1921 Extant. Good Integrity Ella Ambrose & Margaret Clark Highland Court Apts. 1715 N. Stanton 1922 Extant. Good Integrity Ada Waller Dunklin Top O' Hill Sunset Heights 1922 Contributing, Sunset Heights HD

Apartment rents from the El Paso Herald classified page (1910-1920) showed for a two- or three-room apartment with private bath, sleeping porch or balcony, and steam heat at around $25 to $55 per month. The Knickerbocker apartments on Mesa (across from the nominated building) advertised rooms for $50/month; the Alexandria Apartments on N. Oregeon offered three rooms, kitchen, bath, sleeping porch, janitor service, and easy walking distance for $25/month; one rental at the Pickrell Apartments on San Antonio Avenue charged $28.40/month for a "nice, light, airy front apartment;" and in 1919 the Wellborn Apartments on San Antonio advertised "two rooms, , bath, and sleeping porch for $25/month. Patterson Apartments, which rented for $65 in 1921, offered tenants the era's modern amenities but was the only building to offer electric elevator service that operated "day and night."26

El Paso's apartment occupants included a composite of skilled tradesmen and middle- and upper-income earners. For high-end apartments—like Patterson, Knickerbocker, Ramsey, and Aragon Apartments—a person needed an income of at least $100 per month to afford rent. The city's top-notch jobbers could make $140 per month while accountants and bookkeepers were in the $150/month range.27 In 1911, school principals were paid $150 to $200 per month.28 According to local directories, residents living in Patterson Apartments were wealthy widowers, insurance agents, office and commercial business managers, librarians, engineers, businessmen, high-ranking servicemen, bankers, and salespeople. Significant individuals who lived in the nominated building included Brig. General DeRosey Cabell, commander of troops in the El Paso district; Catherine Gorbutt, a local principal; and Samuel Lieb, President of the Sam Silverman Company.

25 The author compiled the table data from a survey of El Paso’s local newspapers between the years 1900 and 1925. 26 EPH, 10/24/1917. 27 EPH, Feb 7, 1920, 26. 28 EPH, May 24, 1911, 13.

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Patterson Apartments

Mildred Burke Patterson (1872-1957) was 13 when she moved to El Paso from San Antonio in 1885 with her mother Mary and three half-siblings. In 1889, she married prominent El Paso attorney Charles B. Patterson (1912 proprietor of the St. George restaurant in 1888 and married prominent El Paso attorney C.B. Patterson (1863-1912). The couple lost their only child, three-year-old Winnie Belle, in 1898. They settled in a Folk Victorian home on Olive Street in the Magoffin subdivision and bought two other parcels, including the land upon which Patterson Apartments was later built. After Charles died from pneumonia in 1912, Patterson sold much of the couple's Olive Street home, empty lots, and car to pay Charles' debts. She never re-married but was active in the Women's Pioneer Society, Women's Missionary Society and was a member of Trinity Methodist Church for more than 60 years.29 She moved to San Antonio in the 1940s, where she died on January 4, 1957.

Just before her husband's estate settled in 1916, Patterson managed to buy back the California and Mesa Avenue lots from the lien holder for $7,000. She hired architect Huss Melancton Beutell and contractor R.E. McKee to design and build a substantial and stylish five-story, red-brick apartment building with an electric elevator, a first for any apartment in El Paso, and a garage. The 1200 block of North Mesa was a prime location for an apartment building. The busy thoroughfare was on the city's bus line between middle and upper-class subdivisions and the central business district. Dozens of other fine, architect-designed apartment buildings were within a mile of Patterson Apartments.30 Beutell's design incorporated modern amenities expected of mid-to-upper class apartments— private bath, sleeping porch or balcony, and steam heat—in the popular Classical Revival style. Patterson lived in Apartment #1 until c.1940 when she sold the building. The nominated building has been in almost continuous use as apartments since 1917.

Huss Melancton Beutell, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to a prominent family. He did not train formally for but learned his trade as an intern in the offices of architectural firms including Bruce and Morgan in Atlanta, Eames and Young in St. Louis, and E.E. Kidder in Denver before moving to El Paso, Texas in 1911. With Eames and Young, he gained experience working on large buildings, including the Custom House in San Francisco and federal prisons at Ft. Leavenworth and Atlanta. In 1912 he joined the El Paso architectural firm of Roberts, Thorman, and Beutell but in 1913 opened his own office. Prior to designing the Patterson apartments, Beutell designed the Marguerite and Davis apartments and the Smelter school. According to the 1917 City Directory he was listed as Huss M. Beutell Jr.,architect, 104-05 Caples Building.31 After designing the Patterson, his work included the Ellanay theatre with an ornate façade detailed in terra cotta and the Manhattan Heights School. Beutell and contractor R.E. McKee collaborated on several jobs besides the Patterson, including the International Commission warehouse. In 1929 tragedy struck when his wife committed suicide, and less than a month later, his son-in-law died in a construction accident. He quietly retired and later moved back to Georgia, where he died in 1956.

Robert E. McKee moved to El Paso in 1910 and gained experience as a draftsman and surveyor before opening his construction business in 1913. He started off doing house repairs and then began building many brick bungalows going up in the suburbs.32 By 1917 McKee branched off into other structures, including the Knickerbocker and Patterson apartments, a school, the Milwaukee Beer company warehouse, an auto garage, the Garden movie theatre, and the comfort station in San Jacinto Plaza. Later, he earned a contract to build extensive military facilities for the Navy in San Diego. During the war, his firm employed 42,000 workers building barracks, hangers, machine shops, and Los Alamos Atomic Energy Project facilities. His firm continued with large projects, including the USAF Academy

29 “Mrs. Mildred Patterson Recalls When Gaming Here Was Rife,” EPT, Aug. 16, 1937, 1. 30 Hollingsed. “El Paso’s “Fifth Avenue,” 107. 31 City Directory, 1917, 743 32 “R E McKee is Building $16,500 Worth of New Bungalows.” EPH, Oct. 25, 1915, 6.

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chapel, the Los Angeles International Airport, and by the 1950s, "became one of the largest individually owned contracting firms in the United States."33

Conclusion

Patterson Apartments is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning and Development at the local level of significance as a good example of the apartment buildings affluent El Paso women invested in during the city's early 20th-century residential building boom. The period of significance is 1917, the year it was built. Between 1880 and 1920, El Paso's population exploded in response to the arrival and expansion of the railroad. Apartments and tenements—a popular and profitable investment—quickly met the city's high demand for housing. By 1925, there were more than 140 multi-story brick apartments in the city. A small number of wealthy women, like Mildred Patterson, took part in this important era in El Paso's residential development as property investors who financed the construction of apartments. In 1917, Patterson invested in a five- story brick apartment building on Mesa Avenue in an affluent neighborhood north of downtown. Patterson hired local architect H.M. Beutell and noted El Paso contractor R.E. McKee to construct the nominated building that gave her financial security and a fine, modern home until she sold the building in 1939.

33 “McKee, Robert Eugene, Sr. (1889-1964)” Handbook of Texas, TSHA

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Bibliography

Abbott, Carl. How Cities Won the West: Four Centuries of Urban Change in Western North America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008.

Burden, Ernest. Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.

Calleros, Cleofas. El Paso……Then and Now. El Paso: American Printing Co., 1954.

Cromley, Elizabeth Collins. Alone Together: A History of New York's Early Apartments. Ithaca New York: Cornell University Press, 1990.

Day, James M. in Four Centuries at the Pass: A new history of El Paso on its 400th Birthday, ed. Dr. W.H. Timmons. El Paso: City of El Paso Arts Resources Department, 1980.

El Paso Chamber of Commerce. El Paso: the Story of a City. El Paso: El Paso Printing Company, 1910. From the Portal to Texas History, crediting the El Paso Public Library, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth213964.

El Paso Chamber of Commerce. El Paso, what it is and why, El Paso: A.J. Hendee, ca.1914. From Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=KkhEAQAAMAAJ.

El Paso Herald. From newspapers.com.

El Paso Herald-Post. From newspapers.com.

El Paso Times. From newspapers.com.

Garcia, Mario T. Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso, 1880-1920. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.

Hollingsed, Laura K. "El Paso's "Fifth Avenue": Mesa Avenue, A Survey of the Major Residential Buildings on North Mesa Street, 1900-1930." Password of the El Paso County Historical Society 49, no. 3. 2004.

Longstreth, Richard. The Buildings of Main Street: A Guide to American Commercial Architecture. Washington: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1987.

Meining, D. W. Southwest: Three Peoples in Geographical Change, 1600-1970. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Metz, Leon C. El Paso Chronicles: A Record of Historical Events in El Paso, Texas. El Paso: Mangan Books, 1993. …..Turning Points in El Paso History, El Paso: Mangan Books, 1985.

Millbrook, Anne. Technological Systems Compete at Otis Hydraulic Versus Electric Elevators. Accessed June 24, 2021, https://ethw.org/w/images/3/32/Millbrooke%2C_Technological_Systems_Compete_at_Otis.pdfhttps://ethw.or g/The_Electric_Elevator,

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National Register of Historic Places, Downtown El Paso Historic District. El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. National Register #100006548.

National Register of Historic Places, Magoffin Historic District. El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. National Register #16000717. National Register of Historic Places, Montana Avenue Historic District. El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. National Register #04001232.

National Register of Historic Places, Rio Grande Avenue Historic District, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, National Register #99001140.

National Register of Historic Places, Sunset Heights Historic District. El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. National Register #88002672.

Sexton, R.W. American Apartment Houses, Hotels and Apartment Hotels of Today. New York: Architectural Book Publishing Company, Inc., 1929.

Sonnichsen, C. L., Pass of the North: Four Centuries on the Rio Grande, El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1968.

Stanley, Irene and Duffy. "McKee, Robert Eugene Sr. (1889-1964)." Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed December 30, 2020. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mckee-robert-eugene-sr.

Timmons, W.H., El Paso: A Borderlands History, El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1990.

Tirres, Allison Brownell. "Lawyers and Legal Borderlands." The American Journal of Legal History Vol. 50, No. 2 (2008-2010): 157-199.

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Maps

Map 1: The nominated boundary is the current legal parcel, which is also the historic property boundary. Described by El Paso CAD as Property ID# 279693 "10 ALEXANDER 8 TO 10 (9516 SQ FT)." Source: https://epcad.org/, accessed April 28, 2021.

Map 2: El Paso, Texas. The red arrow shows the location of Patterson Apartments. Source: ESRI, arcgis.com.

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Map 3: El Paso, Patterson Apartments 31.766498° -106.49428. Source: Google Earth, accessed May 20, 2021.

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Map 4: Detail USGS, 1955, Univ. of North Texas Libraries through Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth447463/.

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Figures:

Figure 1: Current first floor plan.

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Figure 2: Current 2nd-4th floor plan.

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Figure 3: Current 5th floor plan.

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Figure 4: Many apartment buildings (in green) were constructed along Mesa Avenue in the early 20th century. Source: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, El Paso 1908-1948 vol. 1 1908. Republished 1948 Sheet 10. ProQuest.

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Figure 5: Sanborn Detail showing Patterson Apartments. Source: Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, El Paso 1908- 1948 vol. 1 1908, republished 1948, Sheet 10.

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Figure 6: Extant (as of 2019) comparing cost and rent.

Name/Address Address Year Built Description Cost Rent/month Year Patterson Apartments 1217 N. Mesa 1917 5 story, 19 apts, elevator $55,000 $65 3-part vert-block With 1921 furn. Aragon Apartments 316 E. Rio Grande 1916/1917 4 story 17 apts, $20,000 $65 5 rms, (addition) 20 apts addn + UF $30,000 $85 addn. $125 F* Sold: 1917 $50000 2/19/1918 Cornelia Apartments 906 N. Mesa 1916 3 story $35,000

Delevan Apartments 1021 Magoffin 1917 3 story, 25 apts $50,000 $30 to $55 2 to 4 rooms 1917 Hampton Court 1820 Montana 1917 2-3 story 2 apts $35,000 $30-50 Unf. 1918 Hillcrest Apartments 1400 N. Oregon 1917 3 story 12 apts $40 U 1918 Lambeth Apartments 1524 Upson 1916 2 story, 8 apts. $25,000 $35-$40 1916 Nagley Apartments 1100 N. Ochoa 1914 2 story, 16 apts & bsmnt. $25,000

Palms Apartments 329 W. Missouri 1913 2-4 story,30 apts $27-$30 Mission Revival Style 1916 $40 1917 4 rms U Pickrell Apartments 1415 E. San Antonio 1914 2 story, 20 apts $32,000 $25-$35 Open court 1922 Rio Grande 1000 E. Rio Grande 1914 3 story, 12 apts & basement $32.50 Apartments 3 rms & porch 1915

Rosemont Apartments 1217 N. Oregon 1915 3 story $25,000 Summer rental 12 apts For sale 1918 4 rms + bath 1920 Furn Wright Apartments 208 Montana 1913 4 story $35,000 $25-$55 21 apts to 1913 Italianate $40,000 $27.50 1915 Wallace Apartments 811 W. Boulevard 1909 2 story $29,000- Mission Revival style $35,000

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Figure 7: Knickerbocker Apartments were across from Patterson Apartments on N. Mesa Ave. (See Sanborn Map, Figure 4.) Source: El Paso Times, Aug. 25, 1915.

Figure 8: Patterson Apartments under construction. Source: Robert E. and Evelyn McKee Foundation Archives.

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Figure 9: Advertisement for Patterson Apartments. Source: El Paso Herald, Aug. 25, 1917.

Figure 10: Mildred Patterson (18XX-19XX). Source: El Paso Times, August 16, 1937.

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Photographs

Name of Property: Patterson Apartments City or Vicinity El Paso County, State El Paso County, Texas Photographer Martin Davenport Date Photographed April 2019, March 2021, and June 2021

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0001: Facade on N Mesa, camera facing SW; Mar.3, 2021.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_ 0002: Façade and SE elevation, camera facing west, Mar. 2021.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0003: Façade and NW elevation, camera facing south, Mar. 2021.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_ 0004: NW elevation and rear of building, Corinthian pilasters, camera facing east, April 2019.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0005: Rear of building and one-story Non-Contributing, apartment addition, camera facing north, Mar. 2021.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0006: Historic-period brick garage, camera facing west, June 2021.

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TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0007: Entrance on N Mesa, camera facing SW, Mar.2021.

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Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0008: First floor landing from N. Mesa entrance, camera facing SW, June 2021

Page 38 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0009: Typical stair landing, historic period chandelier, camera facing SE, April 2019.

Page 39 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0010: Elevator door and gate, camera facing south, Mar. 2021.

Page 40 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0011: Typical finished apartment, camera facing west, Mar. 2021.

Page 41 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0012: Apt 541, camera facing east, Mar. 2021.

Page 42 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_ 0013: Refurbished kitchen with new cabinets, appliances, granite counter. June 2021.

Page 43 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0014: Typical remodeled bathroom with historic-era tub, camera facing east, Apr. 2019.

Page 44 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0015: Bathroom remodel with shower, camera facing east, June 2021.

Page 45 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_ 0016: Typical 2-panel wooden doors, April 2019.

Page 46 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0017: finished apartment in east addition, camera facing south, June 2021.

Page 47 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Patterson Apartments,SBR El Paso, El Paso County, Texas Draft

TX_ElPasoCounty_PattersonApartments_0018: City-scape looking SE down N Mesa to El Paso city center from 5th floor balcony, Mar. 2021.

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