Maj. Gen. Anson Mills
Teniente General Anson Mills

Maj. Gen. Anson Mills

Anson Mills, surveyor, builder, army officer, engineer, American boundary commissioner, diplomat, and inventor, was born at Thorntown, Indiana, on August 31, 1834, the son of James P. and Sarah (Kenworthy) Mills. He attended school in Indiana and New York and accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1855. After flunking out at West Point in 1857, he rode the Butterfield Overland Mail stage to El Paso, where he arrived on May 8, 1858. He was appointed district surveyor and surveyed Forts Quitman, Davis, Stockton, and Bliss, all in West Texas. He also built the Overland Building, for three decades the largest structure in El Paso. On February 28, 1859, Mills submitted a street map of a settlement called Ponce's Rancho, Franklin, and Smithsville. He called the little community El Paso, and the name stuck. The downtown is still practically as he platted it. Mills is best remembered, however, for the boundary dispute with Mexico over the Chamizal tract and for the Mills Building in El Paso. As the American boundary commissioner he refused to accept the 1911 arbitration agreement that gave the El Paso Chamizal to Mexico. The Mills Building began as the Grand Central Hotel, which Mills constructed in 1883. When the hotel burned, he replaced it with the Mills Building in 1911, at that time the largest concrete monolith in the world. Today it is no longer the highest building in El Paso, but it remains a major El Paso landmark. Source: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi36 Image Description: Black and white photograph of General Anson Mills is shown. He stands to pose for the photo with his body and face slightly at an angel facing away. The image is taken from Mills thighs, up to his head where he wears a decorated military suit. The suit has six sets of buttons coming down his chest and several badges and pins to the left of his chest. Mills also wears shoulder pads and a belt as to complete his military look. His hair can be seen white from his long beard that hangs only from his chin and his multi shaded mustache. His hair is parted at the side and of white color.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

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

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being loaded onto freight truck at ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being loaded onto freight truck at ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being loaded onto freight truck at ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being loaded onto freight truck at ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being secured for travel by ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being secured for travel by ...

El Paso Streetcar Brookville Load-In

El Paso Streetcar: Car #1506 being secured for travel by ...

El Paso - Theaters

Wigwam Theater. Located at 106 East San Antonio Street

El Paso - Business

The White House Located on the NW corner of Pioneer Plaza.

El Paso - Downtown street scene

San Antonio Street looking west, Hotel Paso Del Norte at the end ...

El Paso - Downtown street scene

San Francisco street looking West. Union Depot is at the West ...

El Paso - Downtown street scene

San Antonio Street Caples building dead end (bluementhal above). ...

El Paso - Business/ early automobiles

El Paso Auto Sales Company. Located at Myrtle Av.

El Paso - Business

Perry-Kirkpatrick Realty Co.

El Paso - Business

Sanitary Laundry

El Paso - Business

B. Farber & Co.

El Paso - Business

United States Tires. United States Rubber Company and Associated ...

El Paso - Parks

San Jacinto Plaza

El Paso - Business

Krakaver - Zork & Moye. Located at 117 San Francisco

El Paso, TX, Downtown Street Scene, circa 1905

Mills Building overlooking San Jacinto Plaza. Federal Building.

El Paso - Industries

Lander Lumber Co. (Inc.) Located on Texas SW corner

home.search_collection