Built out in the middle of nowhere, and now in Central-East El Paso, the Gustavus Trost designed Loretto Academy is in excellent condition today. The building is in a Spanish Renaissance style, built of reinforced concrete, stuccoed and built over hollow tile. The structure is trimmed with Terra Cotta and features red Spanish Tile roofs.
The central building featured a fully equipped entertainment hall with a chapel above it, dedicated to St. Joseph of Loretto. The chapel itself had a seating capacity of 600. The building features a 104 foot tall tower, topped with an electric cross. Student classrooms and residences, along with administrative offices, are connected to the central chapel with 50' long colonnades. The entire length of the facade is over 600 feet - the distance of two football fields.
The grounds for the school were designed by architect George Kessler, who unfortunately did not live to see the completion of the building.
Construction of the complex, which cost over $1,000,000, was financed largely by the fundraising efforts of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, who started sponsoring events as early as March, 1921. The official announcement that construction would start was made on May 24, 1922, and ground was broken on the facility by the middle of June that year. The central Chapel/Tower and the two wings were completed by September of 1923, with additional work done to the building well into the 1930s.
The first classes were held on September 11, 1923 and included 183 students, twenty of whom lived on campus. This was considered somewhat miraculous; period newspapers questioned the effectiveness of such a school "way out in the middle of nowhere".
The lead architect is largely believed to be Gustavus Trost, although Henry Trost drew the original plans. Among historical enthusiasts, the belief that Gustavus drew and supervised the construction of this building is based on the belief that he and Mother Superior Praxedes Carty maintained a close friendship. The appearance of the structure, a highly ornate central building with less ornate wings, suggests Gustavus, so that would have been our guess anyway. (As a generality, with a few exceptions, Henry Trost would design ornate buildings evenly; Gustavus would frequently feature a highly ornate central structure or entrance, flanked with wings that were calmer. A good example is Henry Trost's El Paso High, vs. Gustavus' La Tuna Prison.)
The Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross, a Foundation created by Rev. Charles Nerinckx in 1812, commissioned the building. Created in the state of Kentucky, the Order grew at an accelerated pace and quickly spread westward, crossing the Mississippi in 1823. They started missions in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and eventually all the way to the Left Coast.
On June 27, 1852, the Vicar Apostolic of Santa Fe, the Rt. Rev. J.B. Lamy, requested a company of Sisters from Loretto, Kentucky to come aid him in New Mexico. A difficult journey that took three months and took one life (Mother Matilda Mills) ensued, with the Sisters arriving on September 26. Over the next two decades, they established missions and schools throughout the area, from Denver south eventually to El Paso. Using the home of Mrs. William Tully, they established a Mission in Las Cruces in 1870, establishing three schools. In a short period of time, with great success in Cruces, they expanded and opened a school in San Elizario. When El Paso exploded in population after the arrival of the railroads, the Sisters moved the school from SanEli to El Paso in August, 1892, calling it St. Joseph's Academy. After 30 years as St. Joseph's, the new Loretto Academy was planned and opened.
The building stands as a monument today, not only to the architectural brilliance of Trost & Trost, but the perseverance and vision of the school's founder, Mother Superior Praxedes Carty, and the Sisters which preceded her on this amazing journey from Loretto, Kentucky. We were able to capture some fresh pictures of this amazing property this week, and the building was a joy to visit and document.
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Text, research and modern photography provided to sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing period newspaper articles accessed from newspapers.com, in addition to the UNT Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/.
Also citing:
-- Wikipedia, "Loretto Academy (El Paso, Texas)", various contributers, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Academy_(El_Paso,_Texas)
-- Loretto Academy Website History Page, staff, http://www.loretto.org/about-us/history
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| Photo courtesy of the El Paso Public Library, Otis Aultman Collection, marked Ponsford 437, via the UNT Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth875717/ |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| Trost & Trost architectural drawing courtesy of the El Paso Public Library, via the UNT Digital Archives at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth875271/?q=Loretto |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| Aerial photography from 1929 from the El Paso Times, April 22, 1956 via newspapers.com |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
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| 2020 photograph taken by Mark Stone |
