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South-Central
By Leonard Martinez
El Paso Times
Natives of the South Side of El Paso usually declare their origins with pride. The city’s older urban neighborhoods in the South-Central area have some of the most well-known names -- Chihuahuita, Ascarate, Bowie and Segundo Barrio.
“Living there was our whole world. You’d always see different people outside talking,” said 33-year-old Jesus Escobedo in describing the close connections people made with their neighbors growing up in Segundo Barrio.
Now a teacher at Douglass Elementary, Escobedo still visits the places he loved as a child, like the Bowie Bakery. Sometimes he leaves for work a little early just to make a stop at the bakery famous throughout El Paso for its Mexican pastries and sweetbread.
The area is very proud of its many successful alumni, including Arkansas Razorback men’s basketball coach Nolan Richardson. After graduating from Bowie High School, he attended college at Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) before moving on to coach Arkansas to an NCAA national championship in 1994.
Not far from the Segundo Barrio is the Chihuahuita community in Downtown El Paso. This neighborhood, known as the First Ward under El Paso’s old political ward system, was once a haven for refugees escaping the Mexican Revolution. It was also popular during the Prohibition era when several speak-easys were operating there.
East of Downtown is Ascarate Park, which has a man-made lake that is used for fishing and skiing. Recently the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department awarded Ascarate Park $300,000 to create a 10-year master plan for the park to include an aquatics center, playing fields and a waterfront concessions area.
The area is also home to the Ascarate Municipal Golf Course and Western Playland, an amusement park.
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