San Elizario Throwing Historic Celebration Saturday Marking ‘Historic’ USA TODAY Win

A small El Paso-area town with big history is throwing an even bigger celebration this Saturday.

San Elizario – or, San Eli as we affectionately call it around here - was recently voted the Best Historic Small Town in America for 2023 in the USA TODAY Readers' Choice poll and they’re throwing a party in their honor.

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So Much History

The city of about 10,000 lies 20 miles east of downtown El Paso next to the City of Socorro.

Established more than 400 years ago, San Elizario is one of the oldest towns in the United States.

It is home to Licon Dairy, Presidio Chapel, and the Old El Paso County Jail Museum. The Historic Mission Trail, named for the three missions that date back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that dot the trail, goes right through it.

Best Historic Small Town Celebration

San Elizario, the eventual fan-vote winner, was the only historic small Texas town among this year’s 20 nominees

The city is celebrating the win on Saturday, May 6, at the town Placita from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

There will be live music, arts & crafts and food vendors, a free Historic Tour, and the Billy the Kid Breakout Show, which is a reenactment by the Pistoleros de San Elizario of the historic day in 1876 when Billy the Kid rode into San Elizario to break out one of his murderous friends from the old El Paso County Jail.