Picture four hundred years of border life packed into this downtown museum's sixteen thousand feet of galleries. In this building the story of four hundred years of life on the United States/Mexico border is gathered, presented across more than 16,000 feet of exhibition space. The galleries bring rotating traveling exhibitions alongside several permanent exhibitions, and the museum stages special programs for the community.
Look for its permanent digital touchscreen wall and the traveling wall that moves exhibits to new audiences. The museum is run by the City of El Paso, but its story began more humbly: it started as a Cavalry Museum in 1974, largely focused on the mounted history of the West. In 1980 it became the El Paso Museum of History.
It was supervised by the El Paso Museum of Art director until the museum hired its own director in December 1990. Recognizing the old building was undersized and poorly placed, the town included a new museum in a 2000 bond issue. That new downtown building opened on June 16, 2007; within a year it welcomed more than 30,000 visitors and is credited with helping rejuvenate downtown El Paso.
Picture the digital touchscreen wall and the traveling exhibit that carries this history to new audiences.