1. The El Paso Chihuahuas got their name from a name-the-team contest. The finalist entries were the Aardvarks, Buckaroos, Chihuahuas, Desert Gators and Sun Dogs. The Chihuahuas won and the name was announced on October 22, 2013.
2. El Paso is a true slice of the Wild West. El Paso Street is the city’s first and oldest street. It’s old enough to have seen the likes of Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid among others from the lawless days. It was also where the infamous “Four Dead In Five Seconds” gunfight occurred.
3. You’re welcome, margarita lovers! El Paso is reputed to be the birthplace of everyone’s favorite tequila mistake-maker, allegedly invented at Tommy’s Place Bar in 1945.
4. Pat Garrett was a law man from El Paso who lives in infamy for gunning down Billy the Kid.
5. The alt-rock band At The Drive-In got their start right here in El Paso. After forming the band, they played their first live show on October 15, 1994 at the Loretto High School Fair.
6. Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw were all guests at the El Paso International Hotel, which has since turned into a Doubletree Hotel.
7. The famous statue of Christ that sits on Mount Cristo Rey is not a traditional crucifix, since the palms of Christ face downward in the gesture of a blessing.
8. Established in 1930, the El Paso Symphony is the oldest performing arts organization in El Paso as well as the longest continuously running symphony orchestra in Texas.
9. The Tigua Indian Reservation Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso is one of only two Indian reservations in the whole state.
10. El Paso has seen the following movies filmed full or in part: "Traffic," "Courage Under Fire," "Lolita," and "Wild At Heart" among others.
11. Before El Paso was nicknamed the Sun City, the city was known as the Six Shooter Capital because of its cowboy ways.
12. “Ore Diggers” and “Muckers” were names considered for the UTEP team before they became the beloved “Miners.” “
13. Obviously an antiquated leftover from the old days, El Paso has a law that requires churches, hotels, stores, markets, banks, and railroad depots to provide spittoons.
14. Running for 85 years, El Paso is home to one of the oldest and most prestigious rodeos in the world, The Southwestern International PRCA Rodeo. It is the 17th oldest rodeo in the country and ranks as one of the top 50 shows by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
15. The Wyler Aerial Tramway takes riders on a four minute trip in the sky, dropping them off at the top of Ranger Peak at 5,632 feet above sea level.
16. El Paso is known for their rolled tacos at Chico’s Tacos. After serving up Tex-Mex to the people in El Paso, Chico’s has appeared on Foot Network shows like “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”
17. The Texas Tattoo Showdown Music Festival is the largest tattoo and music festival in the U.S. with 300 of the best tattoo artists from around the world.
18. Actor Sherman Hemsley lived in El Paso before he started movin’ on up in his show "The Jeffersons."
19. Concordia Cemetery is home to the grave of John Wesley Hardin who died in 1895 and is said to have killed more men than Billy the Kid or Jesse James. Legend has it, he once killed a man for snoring too loud.
20. The Buffalo Soldiers memorial in Concordia Cemetery is dedicated to the black soldiers who served in the military after the Civil War.
21. San Jacinto Plaza downtown used to be a hotbed for alligators in the late 1800s through the 1960s.
22. If you’re cheering for the Miners, put up your pickaxe! It’s the favorite (and only) call of the real wild ones here.
23. The original colors of the University of Texas El Paso were orange and white, because they were closely affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. But UTEP voted to add blue into the school colors in the 1980s.
24. New students at UTEP were once encouraged to wear beanies on their heads to distinguish them as the freshman around the school campus.
25. It’s hard to miss the giant star illuminated above the night El Paso sky. That’s because this manmade star is more than 400 feet tall and more than 300 feet wide, lit up by more than 300 light bulbs. The man-made Gigantic Star can be found on the side of the Franklin Mountains glowing with 459 light bulbs.
26. The city’s landmark Plaza Hotel opened in 1930 as a Hilton by hotel mogul Conrad Hilton.
27. One of El Paso’s most famous landmarks is the Plaza Theater, which has hosted great Broadway shows since 1930. Back in the day it was the place to be, and considered the grandest theater in the region. It's still awesome today, and hosts the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
28. The Rio Grande River is one of the longest rivers in North America and acts as a natural border between the United States and Mexico. It travels 1,900 miles from the mountains of Colorado (and through El Paso) to the Gulf of Mexico.
29. El Paso is the only major city in Texas that works on Mountain Standard Time.
30. Franklin Mountains State Park is the largest urban wilderness state park in the country. Visitors have traveled here for over 12,000 years to see the pictograms and mortar pits which prove its age.
31. Ysleta Mission is known as the oldest continuously operated parish in Texas.
32. Think Texans only like twangy country music? The Sun City Music Festival, held at Ascarate Park, is a two-day event of EDM music, lights and dancing in the streets with big names like David Guetta, Tiesto and Martin Garrix.
33. El Paso is home to a giant house of sugar, La Casa de Asucar. It was built by Rufino Loya Rivas between the years of 1973 and 1998 and is filled with many religious-theme statues.
34. The Fiesta Del Las Flores or Festival of the Flowers is the oldest Hispanic festival around the Southwest attracting up to 30,000 people annually.
35. Every year at the KLAQ Balloonfest, dozens of balloons take to the sky filling up the blue with bright colors and a whole lot of hot air.
36. The Amigo AirSho is ranked as one of the top ten air shows in the country and has brought thousands of people out every years.
37. The Hyundai Sun Bowl is a huge event in El Paso and has been since it opened for its first game in 1935. In 1974 a winter storm the night before the game left frost on the field, and as it melted in the sun the next morning it looked like fog was covering the field, and was known as the "Fog Bowl."
What’s your favorite fun El Paso fact? Tell us in the comments below!
