Kress Building, Hotel Hilton and Mills Building
Kress Building, Hotel Hilton y Mills Building

Kress Building, Hotel Hilton and Mills Building

The image shows parts of the downtown area at San Jacinto Plaza, probably in the 1940s. The Plaza Hotel was opened in 1930 as the Hilton and once was one of the most luxurious and state-of-the-art hotels in town. It was renamed Plaza Hotel in 1963, until it closed its doors in 1991. To the left, the Kress building is visible. Perhaps the funkiest building downtown, this former 5-and-10 store opened in 1938 and was designed by company architect Edward Sibbert (who regarded it as his favorite in the national chain). Dilapidated and threatened with receivership, this beauty once racked up the chain’s highest annual sales tally. To the right, parts of the Mills building can be seen. Completed in 1911, it was one of the largest all-concrete buildings then constructed.

Area: Central / Downtown

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

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.

First Woman Suzanne S. Azar -Mayor 1989-1991

First and only woman mayor of El Paso, Texas - 1989-1991.

home.search_collection