El Paso County, Texas Genealogy
Guide to El Paso County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| El Paso County, Texas | |||||||
| Map | |||||||
 Location in the state of Texas, United States Genealogy | |||||||
 Location of Texas in the U.S. | |||||||
| Facts | |||||||
| Founded | 3 January, 1850 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County Seat | El Paso | ||||||
| Courthouse | |||||||
 | |||||||
| Address | El Paso County Courthouse 500 E San Antonio Street El Paso, TX 79901-2421 | ||||||
| |||||||
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The county was named for "El Paso del Norte", which is Spanish for "The Pass of the North". It is named for the pass the Rio Grande creates through the mountains on either side of the river. The County is located in the west-central area of the state.[1]
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
El Paso County Courthouse
500 E San Antonio Street
El Paso, TX 79901-2421
Phone: 915.546.2071
County Clerk has birth, death, and burial records from 1903,
marriage records from 1880, military discharge records
from 1919, probate and land records[2]
Seven courthouses have been the home of El Paso County Government. The first courthouse was built at San Elizario in 1850. When Ysleta became the county seat, a second courthouse was built, 1866. Two additional courthouses were built at Ysleta in 1871 and 1882. A three-story Second Empire style courthouse was built at El Paso in 1886; it was torn down in 1918. In 1917, a Classic Revival style courthouse was built; it was extensively remodeled in 1955, and then demolished in 1992. El Paso County's current courthouse, a glass and steel structure opened in 1991. [3]
El Paso County Courthouse
County Clerk's Office website
500 E. San Antonio, Suite 105
El Paso, Texas 79901
(915) 546-2071
Fax (915) 546-2012 Main Office
Fax (915) 543-3806 Vital Records Department
District Clerk
500 E. San Antonio St. Rm. 103
El Paso 79901-2489
Phone: 915-546-2021
El Paso County Government website
El Paso County, Texas Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1903 | 1884 | 1903 | 1884 | 1884 | 1884 | 1829 |
History[edit | edit source]
El Paso County is located in the far south western corner of Texas where the states of New Mexico and Texas, and the country of Mexico meet.
El Paso is presently its largest city. Across the Rio Grande is Chihuahua, Mexico Genealogy's largest city, Ciudad Juarez. Today it is a major international port of entry, and from its earliest days has been a significant customs and immigrations checkpoint between the United States and Mexico.
Parent County[edit | edit source]
1850-- El Paso County was created 3 January 1850 from Bexar Land District.
County seats:
- 1850-1866- San Elizario
- 1866-1868- Ysleta
- 1868-1873- San Elizario
- 1873-1883- Ysleta
- 1883-present- El Paso [5] [6]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
1912 - Culberson County created from eastern portion of El Paso County.
1917 - Hudspeth County created from eastern portion of El Paso County.
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
Places/Localities[edit | edit source]
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[7]
| Cities | ||
|
||
| Towns | ||
| Villages | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Native American communities | ||
| Census-designated places | ||
Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]
Dona Ana County, New Mexico • Hudspeth • Otero County, New Mexico
Resources[edit | edit source]
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.
| Tombstone Transcriptions Online | Tombstone Transcriptions in Print | List of Cemeteries in the county |
| FindAGrave | Family History Library | FindAGrave |
| Linkpendium | WorldCat | Tombstone Project |
| BillionGraves (name) | Cemeteries of TX | |
| GenWeb Archives | Texas Cemeteries | |
| BillionGraves | TX Gravestones | |
| TXGenWeb | Interment | |
| Names in Stone | FamilySearch Places | |
| See Texas Cemeteries for more information. | ||
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± |
| 1860 | 4,051 | — |
| 1870 | 3,671 | −9.4% |
| 1880 | 3,845 | 4.7% |
| 1890 | 15,678 | 307.8% |
| 1900 | 24,886 | 58.7% |
| 1910 | 52,599 | 111.4% |
| 1920 | 101,877 | 93.7% |
| 1930 | 131,597 | 29.2% |
| 1940 | 131,067 | −0.4% |
| 1950 | 194,968 | 48.8% |
| 1960 | 314,070 | 61.1% |
| 1970 | 359,291 | 14.4% |
| 1980 | 479,899 | 33.6% |
| 1990 | 591,610 | 23.3% |
| 2000 | 679,622 | 14.9% |
| 2010 | 800,647 | 17.8% |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | ||
Church[edit | edit source]
Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death/burial date and place. For general information about Texas denominations, view the Texas Church Records wiki page.
Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- El Paso
- El Paso Dist
- Emery
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court[edit | edit source]
Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]
- 1909-1924 Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1909-1924 at FamilySearch — index
- 1924-1954 Texas, Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, 1924-1954 at FamilySearch - Hod to use this collection, index
- 1945-1952 Texas, El Paso, Applications for Non-Resident Aliens Border Crossing Identification Cards, 1945-1952 at FamilySearch — index
Land[edit | edit source]
After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions, including deeds and mortgages, have been recorded by the county. You can obtain copies of these land records by writing to the county clerk at the county courthouse. For more information, see Texas Land and Property.
The FamilySearch Catalog lists microfilm copies of deeds, trust deeds, and mortgages of many counties.
Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]
- 1906-1989 Texas, Naturalization Records — index and images
Local Histories[edit | edit source]
Local histories are available for El Paso County, Texas Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Texas Local Histories.
- The City and county of El Paso, Texas : containing useful and reliable information concerning the future great metropolis of the Southwest ... 1886, El Paso Bureau of Information. Digital book online from archive.org.
- The Land Where We Live: El Paso del Norte, 1973, by Conrey Bryson.
- Pass of the North: Four Centuries on the Rio Grande, 2 vols., 1968, 1980, by Charles Leland Sonnichsen.
- El Paso: A Borderlands History, 1990, by W. H. Timmons.
- Souvenir of the city of El Paso, Texas. Photo-gravures. Digital book online at archive.org.
- San Elizario, 1973, by Eugene O. Porter.
- The El Paso Salt War, 1877, published in 1957 by Charles Leland Sonnichsen. Digital book on line at archive.org.
- Forty years at El Paso, 1858-1898; recollections of war, politics, adventure, events, narratives, sketches, etc., 1901by W. W. Mills Digital book online at The Portal to Texas History.
- El Paso County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.
Maps[edit | edit source]
for more resources
- 1856 Texas and Part of New Mexico 1856 from the David Rumsey Map Collection.
- 1865 Best Route for the Movements of Troops from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas 1865 from the A.R. Roessler Collection, Texas State Archives.
- 1881 El Paso County 1881 from the Culberson County TXGenWeb site
- 1891-1939 El Paso - Fort Bliss Main Post Historic District, 1891-1939 from the Amon Carter Museum.
- 1897 El Paso County, 1897 with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)
- 1900 El Paso County 1900 from the Culberson County TXGenWeb site
- 1908 El Paso Quadrangle 1908 Shows contour lines, elevations, rivers, creeks, towns, cities, roads, buildings, schools, and railroads. Covers part of El Paso County.
- 1920 El Paso 1920 Automobile Blue Book Map from the Amon Carter Museum.
- 1940 El Paso County General Highway Map 1940
- 1940 El Paso General Highway Map 1940 shows detail of the City of El Paso and vicinity.
- 1961 El Paso County General Highway Map 1961
- Texas, West Portion Asher and Adams Map from the David Rumsey Map Collection.
- FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
Military[edit | edit source]
- 1838 - 1900 - Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry.com — index and images $
Mexican-American War[edit | edit source]
- 1845 - 1848 - US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry.com — index $
Civil War[edit | edit source]
Online Records
- 1861 - 1865 Texas, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
- 1861 - 1865 Texas, Civil War Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
World War I[edit | edit source]
- 1917 - 1920 Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — index and images
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as El Paso County, Texas Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:
- TX Newspaper Abstracts (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Do a El Paso County, Texas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).
- El Paso Herald, selected issues on line 1910-1914 from the Portal to Texas History.
- Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History
Probate[edit | edit source]
Probate records of Texas, United States Genealogy have been kept by the probate clerk in each county courthouse. You can obtain copies of the records from the clerk's office. In most counties, all information pertaining to a probate case is recorded in the "probate minutes."
Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence.
Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records.
See the Wiki page Texas Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.
Online Probate Indexes and Records
- 1800–1990 Texas Probate Records at FamilySearch — images
- 1800–2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images $
Taxation[edit | edit source]
Texas tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information, see the wiki page Texas Taxation.
- 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at findmypast ($) — index and images
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.
Certified birth and death certificates or birth and death verifications can be ordered online or by mail at the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health. Copies can also be obtained from the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred and are often less expensive.
Marriages records can be obtained from the county the marriage occurred. Only marriage verifications can be obtained from the Texas Vital Records State Department of Health.
See Texas Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Texas.
Birth[edit | edit source]
Online Birth Indexes and Records
- El Paso County Birth Records Search from EPCounty.com, the official county government website.
- 1840 - 1981 Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1903 - 1935 Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - How to Use this Collection
- 1903 - 1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index only) - How to Use this Collection
- 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index
Marriage[edit | edit source]
Online Marriage Indexes and Records
- 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
- El Paso County Marriage Records Search from EPCounty.com, the official county government website
- 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1837 - 1965 Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965 — index and images - How to Use this Collection
- 1837 - 1973 Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1837 - 1977 Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966 - 2010 Texas Marriages, 1966-2010 - FamilySearch record collection - How to Use this Collection
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Death[edit | edit source]
Online Death Indexes and Records
- El Paso County Death Records Search from EPCounty.com, the official county government website.
- 1890-1976 Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 with images - How to Use this Collection
Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by FamilySearch and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903. - 1903 - 1973 Texas Deaths and Burials, 1903-1973 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry.com — index and images $
- 1964 - 1998 Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
- 1977 - 1986 Texas Deaths, 1977-1986 — index - How to Use this Collection
Divorce[edit | edit source]
- 1860 Census - El Paso County: Census images online at archive.org, 1860 Census transcription from the El Paso County TXGenWeb site.
- 1870 Census - El Paso County: Census images online at archive.org. Census images online at the TXGenWeb site.
- 1880 Census - El Paso County: Census images online at the TXGenWeb site.
- 1968-2005 Texas Divorce Records (Index) - Hidden Ancestors
- 1968 - 2010 Texas Divorce Index 1968-2010 — index - How to Use this Collection
- 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry.com — index $
- 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
El Paso Genealogical Society
501 North Oregon
El Paso, Texas 79902
Telephone Number: 915-543-5440
Website
El Paso County Historical Society
603 Yandell Drive
El Paso, TX 79940
Telephone Number: 915-533-3603
website
El Paso Museum of History
510 N. Santa Fe
El Paso, TX 79901
Telephone Number: 915-351-3588
website
San Elizario Gen. And Historical Society
1521 San Elizario Rd.
San Elizario, Texas
Telephone Number: 915-851-1682
website
Family History Centers
[edit | edit source]
Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries
- Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
- FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries
- El Paso Texas 1st & 3rd Family History Center
- El Paso Texas Family History Center
- El Paso Texas Mount Franklin Family History Center
- Hondo Pass Texas Family History Center
- Socorro Texas Family History Center
Websites[edit | edit source]
- El Paso County TXGenWeb
- TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county
- USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
- FamilySearch Catalog The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "El Paso County, Texas," in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso_County,_Texas. accessed 08/08/2019
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), El Paso County, Texas. Page 663 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ HistoricTexas.net: El Paso County http://www3.historictexas.net/el-paso-county-texas
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), El Paso County, Texas . Page 658-677 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 655-665.
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ↑ Handbook of Texas Online: El Paso County http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hce05
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "El Paso County, Texas," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso_County,_Texas, accessed 4 April 2019.
