In October 1913, Roy T. Lockie, the manager of the Orpheum Theater in Bisbee, Arizona, purchased land on East Boulevard (today's Yandell) in El Paso to build a modern Apartment Building. His brother, R.J. Lockie, was manager of the Hotel Lockie in downtown El Paso, which was located in the Trost & Trost designed Bassett Building. His plans came to fruition late 1917 when the Lockie Apartments were completed at 1011 E. Boulevard.
These apartment homes were one of probably several Lockie Apartments, 3 of which were in a two-block stretch there on Yandell. They were managed by Roy, along with his wife and brother, and also served as the Lockie's residences.
The 1011 Yandell property was designed by the El Paso architectural firm of Gibson & Robertson as one of their smaller projects. The firm, which spent a relatively short time in the Sun City, was in the midst of a two-year explosion of some of the most amazing looking El Paso buildings, including the Mt. Franklin Country Club, the Hendrick's Sanatorium, the stately Ainsa Mansion, the Swiss Chalet styled Julius Krakauer Mansion and the original plans (eventually scrapped) for the Texas School of Mines campus. The firm disappeared from El Paso in late 1917 when George Robertson volunteered for the war effort, traveling to Germany as an Army leuitenant to fight in the "War to End All Wars".
Roy Lockie's red brick apartment building stands today, still used for apartments, although showing its 104 year age. It is very simply designed, which is rather rare for a Gibson-Robertson building, nevertheless handsome.
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Text and research provided to Sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing period newspaper articles accessed at newspapers.com
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 04/29/2021 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 04/29/2021 |
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| Google Earth Street View, accessed 04/29/2021 |
