By Martha Vera
My childhood memories of the Valley bring a flood of visions, smells, and tastes of our dad taking us to Licon Dairy every weekend to have breakfast under the tree lined roads. We would wake up at the crack of dawn and make our way, packed with a grill, pan, fresh eggs, bacon, and hot chocolate Abuelita. The air was crisp and clean. Our mother would buy warm fresh tortillas that smelled like heaven from the tortilleria and asadero cheese from Licon Dairy. Our dad would park our Ford Country Squire station wagon under the heavy tree canopy and light the grill. When I visit there, my family memories flood back of that time together, enjoying the quesadilla topped with an over medium egg and hot chocolate breakfast.
If you have not visited the charming towns of San Elizario, Socorro, and Ysleta, I urge you to visit. There is plenty of construction along Loop 375, but a ride down Socorro Road is a must. The Mission Trail Association will be happy to give you a tour of the missions. In San Elizario, the church was actually the chapel for the presidio de San Elceario, the patron saint of the military, and was built in 1789. The Socorro Mission was called Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion del Socorro and was built in 1682. The Ysleta Mission was Ysleta del Sur’s Mision Corpus Cristi de la Ysleta and was also built in 1682. It is now known as San Antonio de Padua Mission.
What is all the excitement about? The County of El Paso’s Economic Development Department commissioned Dover, Kohl, & Partners, Daedalus Advisory Services, and Hall Planning and Engineering in 2018 to come up with the Mission Trail Comprehensive Master Plan to develop the historic region that is precisely on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This royal highway has been alive and thriving since with living descendants of many of the families that settled here in 1680. In 2019, the plan was unanimously adopted to encourage economic development, tourism, climate resilience and a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in El Paso County. COVID hit the world and the plan became dormant.
Fast forward to today, the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness, a research department of the Woody Hunt School of Business at the University of El Paso received a grant from El Paso County to research and document progress that is being made on the Mission Trail Comprehensive Master Plan. Executive Director Mayra Maldonado said, “I am very excited to know that there are entities in our region that are willing to collaborate to promote economic development while preserving and promoting cultural heritage. This is a historic moment for us at the Hunt Institute.”
A meeting was held at Café Cocol in Socorro with Mayor Miguel Chacon and Alderman Thomas Black of San Elizario and Mayor Rudy Cruz of the City of Socorro with Hunt Institute Staff and retired National Parks Service Director, Mr. Michael Taylor, who is a UNESCO/ICOMOS committee member to prepare the nomination papers for the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro on the US side.
What would this mean for the residents of San Elizario, Socorro, and Ysleta? It would mean ever growing economic development and tourism, not just for the Mission Trail but for all towns north along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, to include El Paso and Cd. Juarez, Mexico all the way north to Ohkay Owingeh, San Juan de los Caballeros, as Don Juan de Oñate and his expedition originally named it. This designation would bring more tourists from all over the world to experience the outstanding universal value that our missions and communities offer.
The plan is to register all businesses, do a needs assessment and see how businesses can support and benefit each other, how El Paso County can help, and what needs the cities of San Elizario and Socorro need. A meeting is planned with Mayor Renard Johnson to discuss the Ysleta area of El Paso.
The plan from the cities is to set up ordinances to unify the architecture, beautify the roads, bury electrical lines, and make all businesses more accessible to visitors.
San Elizario’s Mayor Miguel Chacon, said that the City of San Elizario is planning to line its roads with native trees such as Palo Verde, and mesquite. Both San Elizario and Socorro have plans to bury electrical lines which will add to creating a more aesthetic charm of ‘placitas’ along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
Both Mayor Chacon and Mayor Cruz feel that it is important to bring in hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, and more businesses to the area. “There are more and more trucks crossing the Tornillo port of entry now that the road is finished on the Mexican side. This means that there will be more drivers that will need places to stay and eat. San Elizario and Socorro are perfectly situated to provide them a place to stay and eat in a comfortable setting,” said Mayor Chacon. He also mentioned education saying, “It is very important that we teach our youth to be proud of their roots and understand that their ancestors sacrificed to live there. I want them to know their local history and be proud of it. We all are part of that history, and we want to keep telling our story.”
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to engage in meeting planning and collaboration with the Hunt Institute, Mrs. Martha Vera, Mayor Rudy Cruz, Mayor Miguel Chacon, and Mr. Michael Taylor. We look forward to strengthening our partnerships to enhance connectivity between communities along the Mission Trail ultimately facilitating more effective economic planning and development by incentivizing our small businesses along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,” said Alderman Thomas Black.
Mayor Cruz’s vision for the City of Socorro is well stated, “In a close-knit community such as Socorro, I envision a focus on leveraging the unique qualities and beauty of the Historic Mission Trail to attract new tourism. At the same time prioritizing small business, sustainable development, and economic diversification. Through these efforts we will enhance the quality of life, improve our infrastructure, and integrate a community driven cultural experience.”
Both Mayors are working on plans with the County of El Paso’s Economic Development Department to incentivize more businesses to open in San Elizario and Socorro.
Visit San Elizario and Socorro and create the memories that our parents made for us. Let’s enjoy our rich and long history. We are the only ones that can continue to tell of our region’s outstanding universal value and have UNESCO recognize it as such.
Martha Vera is the Honorary Consul of Spain in El Paso, a Fellow of the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness, and a member of the UNESCO Nomination Committee for the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
