1955 Map of San Elizario

About this map

San Elizario occupies the center of this 1950s-era landscape, where the international boundary between the United States of America and Estados Unidos Mexicanos is defined by the winding course of the Rio Bravo. The agricultural character of the El Paso Valley is clearly visible through an intricate network of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. This includes the major Rio Grande Riverside Canal and numerous smaller water systems like the San Elizario Lateral, Clint Lateral, and Perez Drain. The map reveals a transition from the structured residential blocks of the settlement to the surrounding fields, punctuated by a local Cem and family-named roads such as Rodriguez Road. This survey, revised from mid-century aerial photography, documents the vital relationship between the river and the desert agriculture that sustained these border communities before modern expansion altered the valley floor.