Smeltertown - Texas Ghost Town

SMELTERTOWN

NAME: Smeltertown
COUNTY: El Paso
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 2
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: Much too see.
REMAINS: Many buildings.

No town was ever more appropriately named than was Smeltertown. On the banks of the Rio Grande, it grew to become a Spanish speaking community named after the copper and lead smelters which was the economic base for the town. It existed for almost a hundred years before its residents were forced to move because of high levels of lead poisoning that existed in the area. The town began with the smelter built in 1887 by the Kansas City Consolidated Smelting and Refining Company. Eventually, it became more important as a smelter for both lead and copper ores from the American Southwest. At the turn of the century, the Kansas City company merged with several other firms to form the American Smelting and Refining Company, which operated the smelter since that time. Medical tests conducted in 1972 indicated that one out of every four children suffered from lead poisoning originating from the smelter. Residents were forced to leave the area and all the former homes were razed leaving only rows of elm trees, sidewalks, the school and the shell of San Jose de Cristo Rey Church. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth	Smeltertown Courtesy El Paso Public Library, El Paso, Texas

No town was ever more appropriately named than was Smeltertown. On the banks of the Rio Grande, it grew to become a Spanish speaking community named after the copper and lead smelters which was the economic base for the town. It existed for almost a hundred years before its residents were forced to move because of high levels of lead poisoning that existed in the area. The town began with the smelter built in 1887 by the Kansas City Consolidated Smelting and Refining Company. Eventually, it became more important as a smelter for both lead and copper ores from the American Southwest. At the turn of the century, the Kansas City company merged with several other firms to form the American Smelting and Refining Company, which operated the smelter since that time. Medical tests conducted in 1972 indicated that one out of every four children suffered from lead poisoning originating from the smelter. Residents were forced to leave the area and all the former homes were razed leaving only rows of elm trees, sidewalks, the school and the shell of San Jose de Cristo Rey Church. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

Smeltertown
Courtesy El Paso Public Library, El Paso, Texas

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