Saturday, December 28, 2019

A Salute to Sun Bowl Past

With the 86th Sun Bowl in the Sun City is coming up within a few days, it is a good time to remember a notable moment of the Sun Bowl's history.

El Paso Times 12/28/1974
Nicknamed the "Fog Bowl", the Sun Bowl of December 28th, 1974 was a unique moment when climate and football came together to create a cinematic experience. The astroturf was left covered in snow by an overnight snowstorm. Even though the snow was removed, the sunshine, which the city is so well known for, caused the remaining moisture to evaporate and create a fairly thick fog for the first half of the game. The sportswriter, Flip Morin, from the El Paso Times even coined it "The Sauna Bowl" in his article recapping the game. The Mississippi State v. North Carolina game ended 26:24 with the Bulldogs as the victors.


El Paso Times 12/28/1974
El Paso Herald Post 12/28/1974


For more interesting Sun Bowl History visit the resources listed below:






El Paso Vertical Files
El Paso Times
El Paso Herald Post
Password: Quarterly Journal of the El Paso Historical Society






Friday, December 13, 2019

City of the Future

Horizon City? Most people over the last few decades might have rolled their eyes, but Horizon has actually begun to catch up to the initial vision that its creators had for it. Maybe they really were right in that one day Horizon City will have the potential to grow. Unfortunately, the initial venture was not planned out as well as they had billed it.

It was a beautifully designed plan signed off on by Lucio Costa, a Brazilian architect and urban planner, known for his pilot plan of Brasilia among other works. The image seen below was a rendering that appeared in the El Paso Times on February 7, 1952 recounting the story of the City of the Future that never came to fruition.


Unfortunately, the developers were unable to provide adequate resources to fulfill their obligations, and the FTC ordered Horizon Corp to refund almost 50,000 customers in developments in three states, including those of Horizon City, for selling land without resale value. Looking at the booming growth of Horizon today, maybe the developers had just gotten ahead of themselves and time.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Sun Carnival of Years Past and Present



An El Paso tradition whose roots go back to the early 20th century and has flourished into a year long series of events. The Southwestern Sun Carnival has acted as a way to promote El Paso.  The event has grown from a simple Sun Carnival to include a Parade, Sun Bowl, and a year long schedule of events. This year, the Sun Bowl has even gained new sponsorship. Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl is scheduled for Tuesday, December 31, 2019.






In remembrance of the history of such an extensive tradition, there will be a display on past Sun Carnival Queens from the Sun Carnival collection donated by Mary Sarber. We hope that you are able to come into the department and enjoy the display and explore the many other items in the collection that could not be included in the display including parade photographs, other Sun Queen portraits, and newspaper clippings.



Related Resources

A Guide to Our Sun Carnival Collection
El Paso Vertical Files - 
      Sun Carnival 1965 – 1969
Sun Carnival 1970 – 1975
Sun Carnival 1976 – 1977
Sun Carnival 1978 – 1979
Sun Carnival – History
Sun Carnival Programs (1 of 2)
Sun Carnival Programs (2 of 2)
One resource for video clips of Sun Carnivals past is the Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
UTEP's Special Collections also has their own Sun Carnival Collection.

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