Why Is Ysleta 1 Of The 10 Oldest Cities In Texas But Not El Paso

El Paso did not make the cut here but nearby Ysleta did, beating us by a couple of hundred years.

According to a-z-animals.com the number 1 spot on the 10 oldest Texas cities list belongs to Presidio, Texas which was founded in 1535.

Next comes Ysleta which was founded in 1680 and is now pretty much surrounded by El Paso. El Paso was recognized as an important spot for travelers, and had already been named El Paso del Norte, by Juan De Onate over 80 years before that in 1598.

After Presidio was founded but before Ysleta popped up. So, WTH?

The short explanation is that an official "village" didn't exist here ... north of the Rio Grande anyway ... until sometime after 1827. El Paso didn't become a U. S. territory until 1848 and the city wasn't really planned out until 1859.

The youngest, "oldest", Texas city of Gonzales showed up in 1825, at least 2 years before that initial village was documented here. The number 11 spot, (yes, this top 10 goes to 11), belongs to Georgetown, established in 1840. Surely, El Paso deserves a spot in there somewhere .... maybe 10.5?

Just goes to show that, from the very beginning, El Chuco has always been given the "red-headed step child" treatment by the rest of Texas.

Here is the entire top 10 list ... along with a couple of notes from the city websites.

• 10 - Gonzales, 1825
• 9 - Port Isabel, 1779-ish (Hmm - Website claims 1519 as its origin date)
• 8 - Laredo, 1775
• 7 - Goliad, 1749 (Hmm .. Website says 1829)
• 6 - Austin, 1730
• 5 - San Antonio, 1718
• 4 - San Augustine, 1717
• 3 - Nacogdoches, 1716 (Hmm .. Website says THEY are the oldest Texas city)
• 2 - Ysleta, 1680
• 1 - Presidio, 1535

I still think the 915 should have made the top 10 though, even if solely by the "10 and a half" position I mentioned earlier.

Number 2 really. C'mon now ... technically, with the exception of Presidio, we at least had our name before anybody else.

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