The City Magazine Is Looking For Historical Photographs Of The Camino Real Hotel

You know I love El Paso history, especially the history of downtown El Paso because that is where all the action was when the city was still just a dusty, west Texas town. One of the most amazing pieces of downtown historical architecture is the former Camino Real Hotel.

The Henry Trost-designed hotel opened in 1912 and cost $1.5 to build. It was supposed to be the best hotel in the world, and for decades, it was certainly the best hotel in El Paso, if not the region. It was the place that many El Pasoans gathered to watch the battles of the Mexican revolution, and it was the place in which many El Pasoans celebrated special occasions. For many years, it has been neglected and badly renovated, but that is all about to change.

A $70 million top to bottom renovation of the hotel will reportedly bring it back to the grandeur of the old days. However, because so much of the original archives are no longer with the hotel, The City magazine has teamed up with the Meyers Group, the new owner of the hotel, to ask El Pasoans if they have items related to the hotel.
The City magazine says they are specifically looking for black-and-white photographs of the hotel in the 20s and 30s. The magazine will make high resolution copies of the photographs, and have the owners of the photos sign a waiver so that they can potentially appear in the magazine and in the hotel archives.

Some of the photographs could even be chosen to be framed and showcased throughout the hotel after the renovation. I can’t think of anything cooler than knowing a photograph of mine is part of the historical archives of this grand hotel that has seen so much El Paso history.

If you have photos from the any other era of the hotel, they will also be looked at and possibly included in the archives. Check the attic and your family photo albums to see if you have any photos of the hotel.

You can contact The City magazine at (915) 500-5730, or online at their website.