MinerAlert
MinerAlert
The Centennial Museum was constructed in 1936 to celebrate the anniversary of Texas' independence, making it the oldest museum in El Paso. Permanent exhibits in the museum focus on the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert region, the largest desert in North America. A variety of temporary exhibits address themes related to border life and culture, the Americas and the University's history and current activities.
The Centennial Museum is El Paso’s first museum. It was established in 1936 thanks to state funding in honor of the Centennial Celebration of the State of Texas.
It opened its doors to the public in April 1937 at what was then known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy (now 成人头条).
The Centennial Museum was built to blend in with the distinctive architecture of the campus, with the signature tile Mandela and the steep sloping walls fashioned after Bhutanese fortresses. Stone urns shaped as prayer wheels grace both sides of the main entrance steps.
Through out the museum you can see artwork from some of El Paso's most renowned artists that depicts some of the area's history.
The museum has approximately 73,000 items in its various collections that depict the cultural and natural history of the region.
The Centennial Museum's collections and permanent exhibits highlight the Chihuahuan Desert, where 成人头条 and El Paso are located.
The Chihuahuan Desert is the second-largest in North America (after the Great Basin Desert that covers most of Nevada and parts of the surrounding states). It's 140,000 square miles straddle the U.S.-Mexico border, from southwestern Arizona and central New Mexico through West Texas and deep into Mexico. The Chihuahuan Desert is one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world.
| Permanent displays about the animals, geology, and paleontology of the El Paso region and the Chihuahuan Desert. |
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| An overview of the Chihuahuan Desert - the habitat, plants, and animals. |
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| From scorpions to coyotes, rattlesnakes to roadrunners. |
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| Search by common or scientific name for details and photos. |
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| Its geology and ecosystems. |
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| Extensive links to websites with detailed information on key elements of the Chihuahuan Desert. |
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| Chihuahuan Desert Gardens Presenting over 600 species of plants native to the Chihuahuan Desert. |
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| A gateway to natural history information, and research at 成人头条, related to the border region. |
The Centennial Museum’s collections and permanent exhibits highlight the people who have lived in the various habitats – mountain, river valley, desert – of the Chihuahuan desert region. In the El Paso region, evidence of one of the earliest settlements has been recovered at Keystone, near the Rio Grande on the west side of the Franklins.
Native plants were used extensively by these earlier people for food, medicine, clothing and household objects such as baskets. The arrival of the Spanish, and the other settlers that followed, led to one of the major interchanges of plants and animals in recorded history. Chocolate, chiles, corn, avocadoes, beans and other foodstuffs went to Europe. Sheep, cattle, and horses arrived along with many plants – wheat, oats, apricots, melons, apples, to name just a few.
The new arrivals greatly expanded the exploitation of the minerals in the area, and built roads, and later railroads, to move these goods. The 1857 locomotive that was part of this railroad expansion is on permanent exhibit at the in downtown El Paso.
