How El Paso's Nicknames Reflect Its Rich History

El Paso has a number of nicknames. "The 915", "Sun City" and "El Chuco" among others - ever wonder where those nicknames came from? Sit tight, I gotcha' ...

Throughout its history, El Paso has had many nicknames like the "six shooter capital of the world". That one stemmed from the fact that El Paso had a zillion gunfights in the "wild west" days. Thankfully, things settled down and that name faded away.

I'm a history buff and and I know El Paso history pretty well. I learned some of our nickname history from relatives, some from books and some from simply being around as they were coined.

El Paso Nicknames Explained

The ones I was around to see come into existence are "Star City" and "the 915". Both are pretty self explanatory really - "915" is El Paso's area code and became a popular nickname thanks, (mostly) to El Pasoan Khalid who sang about it in "American Teen" and NFL player Aaron Jones who regularly uses his fingers to display the digits when he scores.

Star City is the most recent one and came about, duh, once the city of El Paso decided to keep the star on the mountain lit all year. It used to only be lit at Christmas.

The Sun City

El Paso gets over 300 days of sunny weather every year, 'nuff said. This one got popular as a tourist slogan in the early 80's but it goes back even farther. It first popped up in the early 1920's, also as a tourist slogan, as "the city where the sun comes for winter".

El Chuco

This is the good, (and most popular), one.

... back in the thirties, El Paso was ground zero for a cultural movement in which rambunctious young Mexicans and Mexican Americans who were leery of assimilation found empowerment through acts of social rebellion. The men and women who made up this subculture became known as pachucos and pachucas and distinguished themselves by wearing flashy, loose-fitting zoot suits; styling their hair in pompadours; dancing to swing music; indulging in the occasional use of marijuana; and developing their own patois. The phenomenon eventually went national, leading directly to the popular cruising and lowrider scenes that can still be found throughout the country, and somewhat less directly to the Chicano movement. “Chuco” is, of course, short for “pachuco,” hence El Chuco. - texasmonthly.com

Where Did Pachuco Come From?

According to Texas Monthly, that was started by Juarez residents who worked in El Paso at the El Paso Shoe Company. They would say they were going to El Paso Shoe Co. (Abbreviated) That translates as “pa el shoe co.” El - Shoe - Co = El Chuco. Get it?

Not sure if that's exactly true but it's not hard to believe. Any other nicknames or stories about these?

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Gallery Credit: Sarah Clark