Here are places on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail in Texas for you to visit (updated September 2009):

El Paso Museum of History, El Paso

Location: 510 N. Santa Fe Street (at W. Franklin Ave.), El Paso, TX 79901. The museum is located between Interstate 10 and the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center.

Telephone: (915) 351-3588

Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except Mondays. Evening hours on Thursdays, noon opening on Sundays.

Historical Significance: This museum was established in 1974 as the Cavalry Museum, but soon afterward broadened its scope and began to function as a local history museum. This facility promotes the understanding and significance of the rich multicultural and multinational history of the border region known as The Pass of the North.

Available Facilities: Due to a successful $6.5 million bond election in 2000, the museum moved away from its former facility in June 2007. The new El Paso Museum of History building is a two-story, 44,000-square-foot facility in the heart of the El Paso cultural district.

Exhibits: Exhibits explore and display a wide variety of subjects related to both the El Paso area and its sister city to the south, Ciudad Juarez, Chihauhua, Mexico.

To learn more: www.elpasotexas.gov/history/

 

Keystone Heritage Park, El Paso

Location: 4200 Doniphan Dr. This 52-acre park is located 8 miles northwest of central El Paso and immediately west of Interstate 10 between the Sunland Park Dr. and North Mesa St. offramps.

Telephone: (915) 584-0563

Hours: The park’s wetlands are open (for bird watching) at dawn and at dusk the last Saturday and following Sunday of every month, while the botanical gardens are open by appointment.

Historical Significance: The archeological site was first discovered in the late 1970s by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Runoff from a thunderstorm revealed a cut-away of an ancient pitch house. Preliminary research revealed the hut was part of a larger village, which according to some experts may be one of the largest and oldest villages of its kind in the United States.

Available Facilities: The park is an archeological site, an archaic wetlands and a botanical garden. Located in El Paso’s upper valley, the park is a city-owned property leased to a volunteer board of directors who are charged with preserving and developing the Park. The park’s wetlands are home to many species of birds and are a stop on a migratory route for even more. The botanical garden encompasses features such as a xeric demonstration garden, a children’s garden, an amphitheater, a moonlight garden, and an ethnobotanical garden.

Exhibits: none related to El Camino Real

To learn more: www.keystoneheritagepark.org