San Elizario

San Elizario (San Elceario, San Elzeario) is at the intersection of Farm roads 258 and 1110, fifteen miles southeast of downtown El Paso in southern El Paso County. Juan de O?ate reached the Rio Grande at or near the site of present San Elizario on April 20, 1598, and ten days later took formal possession of New Mexico and all adjacent territory in the name of the Spanish king. A settlement known as the Hacienda de los Tiburcios was founded at the site, then south of the Rio Grande, sometime before 1760 and had a population of 157 in 1765. In 1789 the Spanish presidio, located in the Valle de San Elizario opposite Fort Hancock, was moved to the Hacienda de los Tiburcios; the presidio kept its old name, however, and the settlement that grew up around it became known as San Elizario.