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The Border Heritage Center's (BHC) Digital Collections are an extension of BHC's physical holdings. Included are rare, unique, and significant materials relating to the history and culture of the city of El Paso and the surrounding Southwest region. We hope a greater understanding and appreciation of our community's history emerges with the ability to remotely discover and use primary resources first hand!  

BHC's Digital Collections site is a work-in-progress as we continue to digitize and catalog collections for inclusion. We encourage you to revisit the site and check out what's new!

McGaw Photograph Collection

The McGaw Collection is named after its donor, William C. McGaw, author and historian. The collection is comprised of the compiled works of two photographers, Russell Metcalfe and James Alexander. Close to 1,500 photographs of the El Paso/Juarez area, the Mexican Revolution, New Mexico towns, national parks and nature were given to McGaw by the widow of Russell Metcalfe. McGaw in turn, donated the collection to the El Paso Public Library's Southwest Department in 1965. Only a small portion of the collection is available at this time, however, additional images will be included in the coming weeks.

Historical Maps Collection

This collection contains over 60 general reference and thematic maps from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century of El Paso, Texas, and the greater Southwest region. Local historical street maps, general political maps, along with unique thematic maps that illustrate amongst other things, military presence, mission sites, railroads, and population demographics are found within the collection. These maps illustrate how different powers, institutions, and industries impacted and ultimately shaped El Paso, the State of Texas, the Southwest, and the United States.

Stockwell Photograph Collection

Walter E. Stockwell was City Plan Engineer in El Paso, served on the city planning commission and co-authored the 1925 city plan report, City Plan for El Paso Texas 1925. The W. E. Stockwell Collection consists of 76 images produced for possible inclusion into the final draft of the 1925 city plan. The black and white photos date to about 1925 and capture the heart of the city, dowtown El Paso, as well as surrounding neighborhoods and the Franklin Mountains.

Scenic El Paso

This collection includes early publications about the city of El Paso. They date from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Their purpose was to inform tourists, prospective businesses and residents about the city's advantages and promising future. The city's history, business sector, economic prospects, agriculture, climate, residential life and neighboring communities were commonly addressed and explored.

Postcard Collection

This collection consists of postcards dating from the first half of the 20th century (c.1900-1950). The great majority are picture postcards of El Paso and showcase the city's scenic views, business district, downtown, schools, neighborhoods, and major landmarks and recreation areas. This collection will continue to grow as additional postcards are added. 

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Select one or more search terms below to locate materials relevant to your research and interests. 

Note: New search terms will be added to catagories as new materials and collections are added to the website.

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Share your thoughts with us!

The Border Heritage Center's Digital Collections site is a new endeavor we're thrilled to share with all of you, but as with most anything new, there may be a few kinks to work out. We'd love to hear your thoughts about the site. What are its positives? Do you have suggestions for improvements? What kind of materials and/or content would you like seen on the site in the future? Can you help identify or provide additional information on images on the site? If so, please contact us at LibBorder@elpasotexas.gov.

Logos are of Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)Thank you to our funders!

The Border Heritage Center has long strived to increase its digital presence and resources in order to enhance collection accessibility for you, our users. We're ecstatic to say we're well on our way to accomplishing this goal because of grant support. In December 2021, Humanities Texas awarded 263 Texas cultural and educational non-profits affected by the coronavirus pandemic Humanities Texas Relief Grants, of which, the El Paso Public Library's Border Heritage Center was one. Funding to initiate a large scale digitization project and acquire a digital collections platform has been provided by Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the ARP Act.