A history of San Paso

N106 · December 05, 2009, 01:52:49 PM

Welcome to San Paso! This history starts in 1870, and will go on to the present.
Update 11: Welcome to 1930

Table of Contents

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Update 1: Introduction to San Paso (1870)
Update 2: A brief tour (1871)
Update 3: Let's go for a walk... (1872)
Update 4: Jones Ranch (1873)
Update 5: Business Growth (1874)
Update 6: Slow progress (1875)
Update 7: The Main Street Bridge (1877)
Update 8: The 1880s (1880-1890)

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=9592.20
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Update 9: The 1890s (1890-1900)
Update 10: The 1900s (1900-1910)
Update 11: Welcome to 1930

Update 1: Introduction to San Paso

Hello, and welcome to San Paso, Arizona. The year is 1870. This city journal will be about the events and the growth of this town. First, we'll cover the history of our small town.

History

In 1701, an unknown missionary founded the Mission San Paso along the San Paso River. After native American attacks throughout the 1750s, the Presidio San Paso was built in 1762.
Between the founding of the presidio and the Gasden Purchase of 1854, the presidio and mission decayed, replaced by a tiny adobe village of a few hundred residents.
Between 1854 and today (1870), San Paso grew to 867 residents. Wooden constructions have appeared after the civil war. The undefined paths of the Mexican village have been replaced by dirt streets. A few businesses have developed. San Paso is a beautiful small town, incorporated as a town earlier this year.

The town

Here is a current picture of downtown. It is a 7 stores lining the thin dirt Centre Street.

There are 2 businesses worth noting at the moment. The first is the Drunken Chico Saloon. It is next to the current town hall. Town hall is to the left, the saloon is to the right.

Our other notable business is DG's General Goods.

Okay, now that we've covered downtown, we have some other things to discuss here.
San Paso is a farming town. The soil has been revealed to be able to support crops, and the nearby Rio San Paso offers plenty of water. Here is an 1859 painting of the Rio San Paso.

In view across the Rio San Paso is Mission Hill.

A fence exists about 100 yards from the Rio San Paso in order to keep livestock from roaming into the river.

Some trees have been planted along the streets in order to provide shade. This is Arizona, after all.

And you have been introduced to San Paso. I do hope that you enjoyed this update. Comments and questions welcome!

Tomas Neto · December 05, 2009, 02:35:33 PM

Hi my friend! I followed your MD in the Simtropolis and I'll continue to follow him here in the SC4D! I think incredible how you do your updates! Awesome start!!!

joelyboy911 · December 05, 2009, 04:54:45 PM

Hey there, it looks really nice, except I can't really see whats going on the picture. Maybe putting it in sepia tone, in stead of the grainy greyscale, would give the historical look, but make the pictures a bit easier to look at.

Other than that, it looks great.

Nardo69 · December 05, 2009, 05:40:49 PM

Welcome to SC4D with your really nice MD.

I followed you already at ST (with some bad luck regarding my DSL line while posting) and I am glad that you made it here, too. There are not too much CJs/MDs with a time line, and yours is a great example.

Take care my friend

Bernhard

calibanX · December 05, 2009, 06:17:22 PM

Very creative work with the old photos. I love the concept. I'm looking forward to seeing how your MD grows.

Geoff

N106 · December 05, 2009, 09:41:07 PM

Tomas Neto: I'm glad you're following San Paso in Simtropolis. It lets me know that more people notice me than I think. I'm glad you approve.

joelyboy911: I get that complaint sometimes (about 1-2 times every time I make a CJ) The pictures will start getting clearer around 1880. Besides, it's kinda too late for me to do anything about the photo qualities. The photos were made in August.

Nardo69: Yeah, Simtropolis has been having problems. I've noticed the shortage of time-line CJs, which really is a shame, because time-line is a great way to naturally grow a CJ. I'll take care.

calibanX: I developed my old photo skills over time. I'm glad you like the concept.

Update 2: A Brief Tour

It has been a year since San Paso was first introduced to you. Only a few dozen people have moved in, because San Paso is no silver town. 3 new businesses have opened up, though.
Here is a current view of downtown.

Here is the eastern edge of town. It's a very short distance away from downtown.

Here is the northern part of town.

Here is the southern area in town.

Finally, we have the western end of town.

Surrounding the town is about a quarter-mile of farmland. That soon gives way to inhospitable desert.

A school is planned for our town. This location has been chosen.

Finally, we have an image of the largest building in San Paso. It is a boardinghouse, not a mansion. Nice, cheap accommodations for field hands.

And that's it for this update. Two or three updates will come tomorrow (we are 52 updates behind the Simtropolis version of this CJ/MD, after all)
Comments and questions welcome!

Tomas Neto · December 06, 2009, 12:28:55 AM

Wow, fantastic update again!!! Great work!!!

N106 · December 06, 2009, 07:38:45 AM

Tomas Neto: Thank you

Update 3: Let's go for a walk...

Today, we're going on a walk through town. But first, I need to show you something important.
A school house was just completed in town. Children have a place to ~~be tortured~~ learn.

We also have a map of San Paso.

Now, lets take a walk along Main Street. We're starting where Main Street begins to fade into desert plants. We'll be walking about 1 mile. We're moving from east to west. We stop once we reach the Rio San Paso.
Here's our starting point.

After walking for a couple of minutes, we reach the first farms.

We make our way through farmland, approaching the town of San Paso.

We soon enter San Paso.

In downtown, we stop for a quick drink at the Drunken Chico Saloon, then continue to move along.

We see the new San Paso Bank as we make our way west from downtown.

Soon, we've left San Paso. After passing a farm, we find ourselves at the muddy end of Main Street, facing the Rio San Paso.

Don't worry folks. Photo quality will improve around 1880. But currently, cameras are just so new.
Comments and questions welcome!

Earth quake · December 06, 2009, 09:26:07 AM

Really nice pictures and Start.

I want can see more.

N106 · December 06, 2009, 01:16:30 PM

Earth quake: I'm glad you like my CJ. In this update, we have.... more!

Update 4: Jones Ranch

James Jones has constructed a massive ranch about a mile out of town. Here is an overview.

This is the entrance to the ranch.

There is a wheat field on the ranch.

The ranch is a cattle ranch. Unfortunately, bad photo quality makes the cows nearly invisible.

The ranch relies on a large pond.

Finally, we have the ranchers house, built in a modern, Victorian style.

And that's it for this update. I know, I'm updating frequently. I have over 50 updates worth of photos waiting to be posted.
Comments and questions welcome!

N106 · December 06, 2009, 06:26:25 PM

Update 5: Business Growth

Over the past few years, business has grown in San Paso. 16 businesses currently exist in downtown. That's more than double what there was 4 years ago! Here is an image of downtown as it stands.

We have 2 new businesses worth mentioning.
First, we have the Drunken Chico Hotel.

Next up, we have the 3 buildings featured below. One is a telegraph office that will allow for us to keep in contact with the outside world. The next business is the offices of the San Paso Weekly Herald. Finally, there is the home of local real estate company Wild West Holdings and Sale.

Homes are getting larger and classier in this town. Here is the current largest, most luxurious home in town.

Finally, we have an image of the new mayor's house.

That's it for this update.
Comments and questions welcome!

Battlecat · December 07, 2009, 08:50:46 AM

Nice job with the black and white images, they are a very interesting touch! That hand drawn map is also pretty cool! Looking forward to seeing more!

Tomas Neto · December 07, 2009, 02:06:03 PM

Wow, my friend, fantastic again!!! Great updates here, really awesome!!!

N106 · December 07, 2009, 03:20:10 PM

Battlecat: I'm glad you like my images. The map wasn't hand-drawn, though.

Tomas Neto: Thank you

Update 6: Slow Progress

Slowly, but surely, San Paso is growing. 2 new blocks were added in the northern part of town.
Here is an image of the northern edge of San Paso back in 1871.

Here's an image of the area now.

A train station is planned for San Paso. The station and railroad will be completed in 1880.
Here is the future site of the station. The site was chosen due to proximity to downtown.

A catholic church started construction here in 1855. 20 years later, it has been completed. The problem construction faced was a lack of a workforce. It is now the largest building in town.

Finally, we have the local newspaper, the San Paso Weekly Herald.

That's it for today's update! Comments and questions welcome!

calibanX · December 07, 2009, 06:10:51 PM

And the railroad is on the way! I'm looking forward to seeing the changes that will bring. Nice update and great newspaper. A newspaper always brings character to an MD I believe. Nice job.

Geoff

emgmod · December 07, 2009, 08:55:56 PM

It's always great whenever someone sneaks in an article done in The Onion style.

I also want to see if the $900 spent on the rail is going to be a waste or not.

N106 · December 08, 2009, 07:06:12 AM

calibanX: Seeing as I'm talking from an 1877 perspective on an 1880 railroad, I don't know how it'll change San Paso. I'm glad you enjoy the newspaper.

emgmod: The Onion was my inspiration to do newspapers. And the railroad is being built for sure... trust me, my dad's a doctor.

Update 7: The Main Street Bridge

The biggest thing on people's minds now is the new bridge that has opened over the Rio San Paso. The Main Street bridge is now providing transportation west to Mission Hill.

Across the river, expeditions to search for gold and silver have begun in this spot.

And, to finish the update, we have a picture of a farm.

That's it for this update.
Comments and questions welcome!

N106 · December 08, 2009, 05:30:16 PM

Update 8: The 1880s

First, let me explain. I've decided that SC4 Devotion should be at the same place that Simtropolis is in where this MD is at. So, I've taken a few highlight events of every decade and will be packaging them into 4 updates. This update will be about the first population boom of San Paso: 1880-1890.
In 1879, gold was discovered near San Paso. The next year, the railroad and train station was completed. Word was slow to get out, and the estimates of the amount of gold weren't very large. As a result, only a few thousand people ended up moving into San Paso during the 1880s. The population went up from 2,000 to 14,000 over those 10 years. It wasn't until 1889 that word got out of massive gold stores 2 miles west of San Paso.
So, we're going to go over the highlight events of the 1880s.
1880: Train station is built. This allows for San Paso to be connected to California and the East.

1882: Business growth is occurring in downtown. First brick buildings are built.

1883: Map of San Paso reveals that a grid has been put in place.

1885: Anasazi County Courthouse built.

1885: San Paso Trinity church built. It dominates the skyline for the next 14 years.

1886: Heavy business growth has created a wood-dominated downtown. Crime is rampant due to the fact that this is the wild west.

1887: Fire breaks out, burns down business district.

1888: Main Street widened into Central Avenue.

1889: New city hall built.

1889: New San Paso Union Depot replaces remains of 1880 train station.

1890: Downtown has mostly recovered from the fire. San Paso is growing rapidly as word of gold gets out.

Next update will be about the 1890s. I know that these updates seem uber-compressed, but I want this MD to be as far here as it is at Simtropolis.
Comments and questions welcome!

scott1964 · December 08, 2009, 06:23:37 PM

Where did you get the train turning thingy?

Nardo69 · December 08, 2009, 06:32:04 PM

@scott1904: Have a look at cogeo's Rural Rail Station Pack on the LEX.

Sorry, hope I didn't spoil you ...

You did take care and you brought up a lot of great pics here. I most confess I didn't do that when I started my MD here some time 2 1/2 years ago (but had done 2 years CJing and a Trixie on ST so ...)

I still enjoy your b/w Shots even though I know them from St. And I am really curious where you will lead us to!