Alejandro Vazquez
History 1302
El Paso Museum of History On May 3, 2015 I visited the Museum of History in El Paso Texas located in downtown area. The tour begins before entering the building there five about a ninety inch touch screen TVs which you can use to explore virtually all around and every area of El Paso. I found those TVs really amazing since you can touch any artifact, person or building area and it gives you a brief history and pictures of it. It also gives you the opportunity to email yourself of or a friend or yourself about the items selected. Once entering the premises of the museum there you will sign in with the hostess were they will ask you for your name and zip code. No fee is required for the tour the entrance is free and only a small box for donations is at the main entrance. The hostess will give you a brief explanation of expect and what you may do or not do while during the tour. She will let you know that you may take pictures without flash and only certain labeled items may be touched. In the first floor to the room to the left of the entrance there is not much variety of artifacts. In my tour there was a display of India (mid-eastern) culture which included home styles, wedding outfits, statues of their culture believes and pictures of the buildings in that country. The following room in the first floor there was a display of the E.P.F.D. which included outdated equipment used in 1900s of fire hydrants and fire trucks. The also had a actual 1920s fire truck and a replica of a more modern fire truck in which I was able to climb in and get a more less experience of how it is inside one of the modern trucks. Clothing, equipment, old school fire hydrants and fire hoses were also in display in this room. The third room is for souvenirs they consist of a wide variety of cultures the prices are not bad at all. The second level of the building there is a display of all El Paso culture and our military base Fort Bliss. Once you walk in you will see a short military display and time line about the military in Fort Bliss in El Paso, followed by the El Paso Chihuahitas and El Segundo Barrio culture. In display you will see artifacts of people that have lived in the areas; cabinets, handmade blankets, toys and pictures and more pictures of families that reside from these areas in El Paso. They will have a variety of maps of El Paso in walls and in the floor. One thing that I found attractive was a TV time line from the 1490s to the 2000s. In the middle of the room there is a screen with t a rotating control which explains to you the expansion of the Spanish in America and how El Paso Texas was founded. It is impressive to see the whole story in a couple of minutes and see the map conversion of how El Paso has grown. Next in the second room you will find a room full of artifacts that people from the past century used to cultivate and grow foods. You will find a wooden wagon and other artifacts used to convert water into wine. In the next room still in the second level (third room) here is where you will find more information about politics. There is also a machine cotton gin that was used in production of cotton wool. A variety of artillery is found in this room all the way from clothing to shot guns and hand guns. Also you will find cattle equipment that was used in our agriculture and a few artifacts used by our blacksmiths from the 1800s-1900s. The fourth room is all about the revolution from the Spanish and Mexico. It includes some artifacts and artillery equipment used as well as modern technology that was invented and used during that time for example the electric air fan and the type writer. Even though El Paso was considered a small town from its beginning I believe it is still growing and will continue to grow regardless of the years in the future. I hope that this museum will also grow and display more cultural artifacts and keep bringing more ancient displays. I mean the displays are good but some of these I can still find in my grandparents’ house or in goodwill stores. I think El Paso is very rich in culture and we can do better with our museum I am not saying it is not a good museum but I think we should have more artifacts in display not only a few. Another idea I had in order to save money and become more industrialized is that I noticed that there is multiple museums that are segregated in the downtown area. I think that they should be consolidated into one big museum that would save the city thousands of dollars in expenses and there would be wide variety of displays instead of one small one.