On February 5, 1906, the membership of the First Baptist Church voted to sell their iconic Church building, which was located at the corner of Magoffin and San Antonio, and move to a new building. Within the week, they sold it and purchased the lot at the corner of Magoffin and Virginia. They sold their old building for $18,500 with the stipulation that they could remain in the building for six months, and that they can take the Church Bell and the building furniture with them.
The land at Virginia and Magoffin was purchased for $7,500, and ground was broken for their new sanctuary on May 14, 1906: and the new Church was completed before the end of November of the same year! This is a project that would have taken a decade today.
Located at 801 E. Magoffin, the building is a staggeringly beautiful Mission Revival design, drawn by noted (but under-appreciated) El Paso architect S.E. Patton. The contractor was Ponsford and Sons, and total cost (including the land purchase) was about $30,000. It stands today, at 114 years of age, in excellent condition. According to EPCAD, the current owner is Ministerio Sol de Justicia (see https://www.facebook.com/Ministerios-Sol-de-Justicia-1154790417899283/).
S.E. Patton began his career in Phoenix, Arizona and is known as the designer and owner of the Patton Opera House, a Queen Anne beauty that was, unfortunately, demolished in the 1980s. Most of his work, after relocating to El Paso, was in residential design, including the Frank Buono residence and the Dr. Race Merchant Apartments, both in El Paso, and the Ella Howe/Maude Doane Apartments at 1025 Magoffin, erected in 1916 and still standing today. Also included are the Conway Residence at Ange and Nevada (a beautiful two-story bungalow that is extant, which we will write up soon!) and the Ruby Patton home on Wyoming. He was quite diverse in his choice of styles: his Queen Anne Opera House in PHX is just as surprising as this Mission Revival Church we are looking at today.
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Text, modern photography and research provided to sketchclub.net by Mark Stone. This historical narrative is derived from newspaper articles and City Directory entries accessed through the Library of Congress' Chronicling America project at https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ and the University of North Texas (Denton) Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/
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| Photo courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission's Historic Resources Survey Collection, via the UNT Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth687782/?q=801%20Magoffin |
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| Photo courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission's Historic Resources Survey Collection, via the UNT Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth687782/?q=801%20Magoffin |
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| Image courtesy of the El Paso Public Library via the El Paso Museum of History's DIGIE (http://digie.org/media/4306) |
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| Image courtesy of the El Paso Public Library's Otis Aultmann Collection, via the Historic Magoffin website at https://sites.google.com/site/historicmagoffinhallsimple/customize |
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| Image courtesy of the El Paso Public Library's Otis Aultmann Collection, via the Historic Magoffin website at https://sites.google.com/site/historicmagoffinhallsimple/customize |
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| Image courtesy of the El Paso Public Library's Otis Aultmann Collection, via the Historic Magoffin website at https://sites.google.com/site/historicmagoffinhallsimple/customize |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Photo taken by Mark Stone 07/20-2020 |
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| Clipping from the 1907 El Paso City Directory, accessed at the UNT Digital Archives |
