Introduction to the Downtown Trost Tour

Visit El Paso

Hello. Welcome to our tour of the architectural masterpieces of the firm Trost & Trost in downtown El Paso. The reasons why the Trosts chose to settle permanently in El Paso are clear enough. Ever since the arrival of the railroad in 1881, the population of the city had been exploding. What was once a small and unruly frontier outpost was rapidly transforming into a sophisticated modern metropolis. In 1890 the community counted just over 10,000 inhabitants, but by the time the Trosts arrived the population had already doubled. Thanks in large part to the railroad, El Paso soon developed into an important center for cattle, mining, banking, hotels, and garment manufacture. During the Mexican Revolution, between 1910 and 1920, thousands of new immigrants crossed the border, and soon El Paso was one of the largest American cities between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. Henry was not only skilled at designing architecture in the Chicago and Mission styles, but also in the Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian, Prairie, Art Deco, Romanesque, Gothic, Italian Renaissance, Spanish Colonial Revival, Pueblo, Moorish, and Bhutanese styles. Downtown El Paso, with its eclectic variety of Trost edifices, is his primary legacy. Of the 38 commercial buildings Henry erected there, 27 are still standing, including the city’s most iconic and beautiful buildings. We hope that you will take the time to visit all of his wonderful masterpieces. This walking tour draws upon extensive research conducted by June-Marie and Lloyd C. Engelbrecht and by the El Paso County Historical Commision. For more information on the architecture of Trost & Trost, please visit www.henrytrost.org and www.texastrost.org.