Letters and Bibles El Paso, Texas
Cartas y Biblias el Paso, Tejas

Letters and Bibles El Paso, Texas

The surge of population headed to California for the 1849 Gold Rush got the attention of the United States Post Office. By 1850, a mail courier on horseback carried letters between San Antonio and El Paso, and then up to Santa Fe. San Diego and stagecoaches were added by 1857. Railroad service over the same routes opened in 1881, with airmail arriving in 1930. The mail remained the least expensive way to correspond – compared to long distance telephone – until the advent of e-mail. For those families professing a Christian faith, the family Bible was a keepsake. Bibles are traditionally printed with record pages. Major life events such as births and marriages that are recognized in church ritual are listed there. Bibles not only provided comfort and direction, but contained family history.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: EPMH

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Pacific Hotel

In 1889, the Pacific Hotel (and saloon) was located at the ...

View of San Jacinto Plaza - El Paso, Texas

The bandstand at one time was closer to the Main Street side of ...

Downtown El Paso - 1881 & 1887

Two images in one of downtown El Paso, Texas. Bottom image has ...

Jake Erlich - Tallest Man In The World

Many of us know of Erlich as the “world’s tallest man,” as ...

Two views of downtown El Paso

This print shows two views of downtown El Paso, one in 1881 (the ...

El Paso County Historical Society

Horse driven trolley in El Paso, Texas.

View of San Antonio Street

View of San Antonio Street from El Paso Street - 1882.

El Paso Street - 1882

El Paso Street - 1882

San Jacinto Plaza

San Jacinto Plaza in the 1800's.

Preaching Tent - 1893

"Preaching Tent" - now the location of the Toltec ...

Downtown and Parade - 1893

Parade going east on San Antonio Street in 1893.

Downtown Store on El Paso Street - 1897

Unknown store on El Paso Street in Downtown El Paso. Date ...

El Paso Street - 1881

El Paso Street and San Francisco--1881.

Central School

In late 1882, the newspaper headline read: "$700 has been ...

Central School in El Paso

In 1884, it was built on the corner of Myrtle and Campbell ...

First Weaver Scope Factory - El Paso, Texas

The W. R. Weaver Company made rifle scopes in El Paso from. ...

Alligator Pool on San Jacinto Plaza

This postcard shows the alligator pool on San Jacinto Plaza, ...

Phelps-Dodge Building - El Paso, Texas

The Phelps-Dodge building in El Paso housed the business office ...

International Bridge between United States and Mexico

This postcard shows the International Bridge which connects ...

Carnegie Free Library

The picture shows the Carnegie Library, which was the precursor ...

Hotel Orndorff and San Jacinto Plaza

This postcard shows the Hotel Orndorff, which was located at San ...

Larry Francis, Mayor, El Paso, TX circa 1995

El Paso Mayor - 1993-1995, 1995 - 1997.

William S. Tilney, El Paso, TX, Mayor 1991-'93

William S. Tilney was the mayor of El Paso from 1991-1993.

home.search_collection