Old Smelter Cemetery
Tucked away high on a bluff off of I-10, is probably one of the most striking sights you will see on the westside of El Paso. The Smelter Cemetery sits in the shadow of Asarco’s huge stacks, a striking juxtaposition of industrial might to the bleak serenity of the cemetery’s many white crosses.
View Smelter Cemetery in a larger map
You’ed almost not know the cemetery is here unless you really looked around while sitting at the Executive exit light. There’s no signs and where it sits on the hill causes it to blend into the desert. It’s accessible from a dirt road off of San Marcos drive though there is a gate that is usually locked, preventing driving access to the main entrance. A sign states that a key is available in the San Marcos neighborhood but I usually just park and walk, its not too far.
- Smelter Cemetery Entrance
The entrance is very utilitarian. The welded pipe and mesh are the biggest clue to the sites working class roots, most likely from the very same stacks towering above. I’ve been here many times and it’s always well maintained. There is some irony in the current dismantling of the Asarco site. Many of the cemetery’s residents were put here by those very stacks and they soon may be blown up leaving the cemetery as the last record to the cemetery’s industrial past.
- Clear blue sky
Even though its apparent the relatives keep a watchful eye on the site it has not escaped vandalism that seems to be so prevalent in many of the cemeteries I’ve visited. Compare the same statue from 2004 to now:
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Somewhere between 2004 and now there must have been a big effort to mark all the graves as well. The first time I was here many of the unmarked graves were just piles of rocks. Most now also have a simple white wooden cross. That really gives the place a old western feel, kind of like the Sad Hill Cemetery from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
- White Crosses
Interestingly the cemetery did have a brief appearance in the NBC miniseries “Kingpin” in 2003. There was a scene where the main drug lord character meets with a DEA agent for information. The meeting takes place somewhere in or around the cemetery. I was probably one of 5 people who actually watched that miniseries but the scene stuck in my head and lead me to actually try and find out if the location was real. There are a bunch of unique grave markers, many handmade, which make the visit worth the short hike.
- I commend your effort
My previous visits can be viewed on Flickr here:
Smelter Cemetery 2012
Smelter Cemetery 2011
Smelter Cemetery 2008
Smelter Cemetery 2004
The Dead Tree
Just a dead tree down by the river across from Sunland Park, New Mexico.
DWNTWN ARTMRKT
This past Saturday we headed to the Union Plaza area in downtown El Paso to check out the DWNTWN ARTMRKT:
DWNTWN ARTMRKT
The market is a chance for local artists to showcase their wares and runs every Saturday on Anthony Street. The first time I went a couple of weeks ago the winds were terrible and made it quite unpleasant. This weekend the wind was gone, the temps were higher so we had a chance to really walk around checking things out. There was a booth setup for free ornament making for the kids so our boys had blast making a little art of their own. Thanks to Katie and her friend for helping our hooligans out with their ornaments!
The city blocks off the street so the vendors can set up booths and have plenty of room for people to walk and browse. There was a nice selection of arts and crafts, from jewelry to paintings as well as a few food vendors.
Vendor row
Union Plaza has gone through a revitalization of sorts with improved sidewalks and parking. There are a lot more restaurants in the area though they didn’t look open at the time we were there. The real highlight of the area is the old industrial buildings that now house may of the clubs and restaurants. They have retained their character and clues to there past can still be found on the faded brick facades.
Western Coffee Company
Moore
Post no Bills
After walking around a bit and checking out the train station the kids were getting a bit unruly so we headed out to get some lunch. I can see this growing and being real popular in the springtime, hopefully more of the restaurants will make an effort to be open for lunch as more people come. More shots of the buildings in the area can be found here:
Trying to catch the Old 844
El Paso was host to a locomotive legend over the past couple of days. The Union Pacific 844 had stopped in town and was on display downtown before it headed out west. Union Pacific was going to run it trough Anapra on its way out so I wanted to get a picture of it as it passed by Ardovino’s Desert Crossing. I had scouted a location to shoot from on Tuesday trying to get the timing and lighting right. The tricky thing is there are two lines that run along Mount Cristo Rey in that area and I wasn’t sure which one it was going to be on. While I was scouting, a diesel cruised by at 8:15 on the upper track. I assumed the 844 would follow the same plan on Wednesday.
On Wednesday I headed out to Ardovino’s arriving a little before 8:00. There was some other photographers there scattered around. I headed out to my spot and proceeded to wait in the cold.
- The perfect shot!
Two guys had followed me and setup across the tracks to my left on a flat area between the two sets of tracks. After about five minutes “Ramon”, as his buddy was calling him, asked how I knew it was going to be on the upper track. I told him it was a guess based on what I had seen on Tuesday but that I didn’t know for sure. After a few minutes we could here the 844’s whistle in the distance so we all patiently waited. At about 8:23 the older guy with Ramon could see the train in the distance and let me know that darn-it, it was on the lower track. They quickly reset their positions and I jumped down from mine so I could see the lower track. As soon as I recomposed a shot it appeared around the bend.
- Whoo-whoo!
I was a bit farther away and not as much of the mountains were in the background as I wanted but I still got a couple of good shots.
- Steam Locomotive No. 844
I clicked off as many shots as I could. The engineer was running pretty fast and as quickly as it came, it was gone. I packed up and headed back to my much warmer office. The full 5 seconds of it passing can be viewed here on Flickr: Capturing the 844