El Paso Smelter and Railroad Bridge

El Paso Smelter and Railroad Bridge

The postcard shows the El Paso railroad bridge in the beginning of the 20th century. To the right is the Mexican bank, to the left the U. S. bank. At that time, the Rio Grande carried a lot more water than it does today. Behind the bridge, some houses and the stacks of Smeltertown can be seen. Smeltertown was an industrial area, which came into being with the construction in 1887 of the Kansas City Consolidated Smelting and Refining Company (later the American Smelting and Refining Company, or ASARCO) copper and lead smelter. In the 1880s the Mexican employees of the smelter began building houses west of the smelter, beside the Rio Grande. The residents lived in very poor conditions, which was brought to attention in the 1940s. In the 1970s it was found out that the majority of the residents there were suffering from lead poisoning due to a huge amount of lead emission. As ASARCO was not prepared to modernize and improve, the residents were forced to move and the smelter closed down.

Área: Central / Smeltertown

Colección: Stansel Postcard Collection

Fuente: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

ID de referencia: PH049-1-1-036

Cargado por: El Paso Museum of History

Comentarios

Hacer un comentario
Gracias por su comentario

Reportar esta entrada

Elige la razón más importante para este reporte

Tu nombre

Tu correo electrónico

Detalle opcional

Gracias por su reporte

Más sobre la misma comunidad-colección

American Dam, 133

Pumping out the western cofferdam, as seen from the west bank.

American Dam, 134

The competed section and the western cofferdam as seen form the ...

American Dam, 135

Underpinning completed between sections 78 and 80 of the ...

American Dam, 136

The American Dam conduit section B forms and footing.

American Dam, 137

Placing the first concrete footings near station 81 of the ...

American Dam, 138

Conduit section B forms and steel for footing are seen near ...

American Dam, 139

Conduit section B forms for footing as seen from the north of ...

American Dam, 140

Rock Sub-grade with the concrete piles beyond are seen from ...

American Dam, 141

Forms and steel hold the concrete in the east footing of ...

American Dam, 142

Walls form around steel surrounding the conduit section "B" near ...

American Dam, 143

Placing concrete in the western footing using a Barber-Green ...

American Dam, 144

Workers pour the first section of the eastern side wall of ...

American Dam, 145

The western cofferdam shown partly excavated, preparing to drive ...

American Dam - Closing gap in lower dyke

American Dam - View west from east bank of river; closing gap in ...

American Dam, 146

4500 cubic square feet of water pass through the American Dam.

American Dam, 147

4500 cubic square feet of water pass thought the floodgates, as ...

American Dam, 148

4500 cubic square feet of water pass through the floodgates, as ...

American Dam - Dragline and excavators on coffer-dam

American Dam - View downstream from east end of foot-bridge. ...

American Dam, 713

From the canal levee we can see the completed section opposite ...

American Dam, 714

The view as seen downstream from the west end of the footbridge, ...

American Dam, 715

The dam as seen from the hill above the boundary near monument ...

American Dam - East bank Levee Sewer

American Dam - East bank Levee Sewer; Northwest dragline ...

American Dam, 716

The left bank of the Rio Grande is seen from stations 26 & 50.

home.search_collection