EPHS History

  • In late 1882, the newspaper headline read: “$700 has been subscribed by the citizens of El Paso in lands, money and all material for the purpose of erecting a public school.”  So in 1884 a two story building was erected at Myrtle Ave. and Campbell St.  It had 10 rooms and an enrollment of 222, it was named Central School. Opening day of school was September 27, 1884.

  • "Central School"

  •  In 1885 a high school was established on the 2nd floor, the first graduating class consisted of two students Kate Moore and George Prentiss Robinson.
  •  In 1888, EPHS had the first student military corps (now known as JROTC) in the state of Texas and for that reason our JROTC still wears the #1 on their sleeve patch.  The corps was organized by Superintendent of the Schools, Calvin Esterly, a graduate of West Point.
  • From 1900 to 1916 EPHS was located on the corner of Arizona St. and Kansas St., which is now the location of the College of Health Sciences – the Nursing School of UTEP.
  • The first yearbooks at EPHS we called “Quien Sabe”, these publications were around 1900-1912. In 1912 the name was changed to the “Tatler”, which evolved into a magazine and then the school newspaper which they still circulate today. In 1922 the yearbook name changed again for the last time to the “Spur”.
  • In 1909 Superintendent F.M. Martin requested a new building in his annual report due to overcrowding at the previous building simply known as “High School”.  Mr. Martin stated, “The attention of the School Board is earnestly directed to the present need for a new high school. The present building is inadequate, and will be more and more so as time goes on. It will be at least two years before bonds can be voted and sold, and the building erected and made ready for use By that time there is every reason to believe that the crowded condition of the high school will become very much worse.” It wasn’t until 1912 that the city purchased a four block site for the building of the new school, what is now EPHS.

    EPHS 1900-1916

  • The first mention of the Tiger as the school’s mascot was in 1912.  “The Orange and Black” (now known as the “Alma Mater”) was dedicated to the school for the school colors which had become traditional some years earlier.  The Composer was Francis Moore, who was the brother of Kate Moore who was in the first graduating class from Central School.  Mr. Moore would go on to become a conert pianist, composer and teacher. 
  • The current building was designed by Henry Trost and Gustavus Trost, of the architectural firm of Trost & Trost. Some other Trost and Trost buildings in El Paso are, Vilas Elementary, the Main Post Office, the Cortez building, the Anson Mills building to name a few.
  • El Paso High’s Greco Roman architecture is inspired by the Portico of Octavia in Rome.  When it opened the top of the building was covered with a roof garden.
  • The cost to build EPHS was $500,000 in 1916, to replicate it today would cost over $10,000,000. We believe she is priceless and the most beautiful high school in the nation.
  • The stadium is named after R. Randolph Jones, the first assistant principal at EPHS who was remembered as “a compassionate person who cared for his students and knew them all by name.”
  • El Paso High first opened its doors of the current building for school on September 18, 1916.  Above the main entrance is a bronze tablet with the following quote: “A cultivated mind is the genius of democracy. It is the only dictator that free men acknowledge and the only security that free men desire” Mirabeau B. Lamar.
  • From 1916 until the late 1920’s the building housed grades 1 through 12 on the first 3 floors. The top floor was a junior college for teachers. When the Federal Government decided to fund the teachers college, it was moved to UTEP and became the College of Education.
  • In 1922 with the Ku Klux Klan as city board members the school’s name was changed to honor Texas heroes EPHS became Sam Houston High School in honor of the President of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas.  After strong community protest the school’s name was changed back and in February of 1923 the Ku Klux Klan was defeated in local polls and their presence in El Paso soon died out.
  • From 1935 to 1937 the first three Sun Bowls were played at R.R. Jones Stadium. The first game featured the El Paso All Stars defeating Ranger (Texas) by the score of 25-21, on January 1, 1935.
  • EPHS won state basketball titles in 1922, 1926, 1941 and 1947 and made 11 appearances in the State Final Four. A major contributor C.D. Jarvis and UTEP Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Don Haskins to that basketball history was C.D. Jarvis. From 1944 to 1984 Mr. Jarvis was the head basketball coach at EPHS and the main gymnasium is named in his honor.  Mr. Jarvis was revered as a coach and beloved as a man.  This year the Alumni Association will be hosting the 37th Annual C.D. Jarvis Basketball Tournament. 

    C.D. Jarvis and UTEP Coach Don Haskins

  • When Coach C.D. Jarvis passed away it was a sad moment for all of us the funeral director hosting Mr. Jarvis’ services called EPHS and said it would be impossible to hold his memorial in their facility because the number of phone calls was getting into triple figures.  Several phone calls to school board members and acting superintendent Ken George were made and several hours later, the district agreed that we could all say goodbye to our Coach in his gym.  Two days later, the car drove up and the casket was rolled out to center court.  Bleachers and chairs were set around the court as 300 alumni and former players came in to pay their respects.  Hall of Fame UTEP Coach Don Haskins arrived and asked Alumni Association President Linda Troncoso to take him to see Mrs. Jarvis, when she asked him why he wasn’t going to stay, he said it would be too hard and besides it was Coach Jarvis’ memorial.  There were lots of tears, and lots of jokes, and lots of memories as one by one, Coach’s friends, family, and players said goodbye to the Coach of Coaches.
  • Some notable alumni (we understand this list alone could go on forever and we intend to continue to add to it):  The navy destroyer ship USS William D. Hawkins is named so after an EPHS Alum.  Jake Ehrlich stood 8 feet 6 inches tall and once held the title of ‘Tallest Man in the World.”  Tom Lea, painter whose father was once the mayor of El Paso and declared he would arrest Pancho Villa, after this threat was made Tom and his brother had to be escorted to school for 6 months.  F. Murray Abraham won an Academy Award for his role in Amadeus.  Actress Lupe Ontiveros has appeared in Desperate Housewives, Charlie’s Angels and Selena to name a few.  Jim Ward musician with the group Sparta & SleeperCar and Grammy award winning musician, Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the group Mars Volta are also EPHS alumni.  George Hodge, Class of 1966 was the first African American student and athlete at EPHS; Mr. Hodge was an All District performer in football, basketball and baseball.  Class of 1980 grad Chris Aguirre helped design the center logo of C.D. Jarvis and would go on to animate works such as Puss n’ Boots from the Shrek movie series, Tiny Toons Adventures, Space Jam and Eight Crazy Nights.  Although not a graduate, Wade Phillips, former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys did attend EPHS in the mid 1960’s while his father Bum Phillips was the head coach at Texas Western College; Bobby Griffing, Class of 1987 is a top chef and owner of El Pisto in downtown El Paso, Bobby has cooked all around the world from New York to Tokyo and was once voted the Chef of the Year in Las Vegas.  Marc McCall was a gifted basketball player who had a great career at UTEP and then went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters for several years.   
  • In the 1950’s and through the 1970’s KTSM Radio use to broadcast the Claw Game pep rally with Austin and EPHS.  They would set up one announcer at EPHS and another radio announcer at Austin and each school would do a cheer and introduce the players and then the other school would do the same for a half hour.  The entire city listened, even in stores. 
  • In 1963 no Claw Game was played as that Friday would be the infamous day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.  Twenty years later however both teams would get together and play a touch football game to commemorate the lost game and the Tigers would come away victorious.
  • C.D. Jarvis Gymnasium was opened in 1966. 
  • On November 17, 1980, El Paso High officially became a historic landmark with the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  Therefore if any remodeling or new construction is to be done on EPHS it must be approved by the NRHP.
  • In 1984, Principal Luis Cortes began plans to open a museum on the first floor of the building.  Mr. Cortes with the help of his students began “The El Paso High School Historical Society” which was officially established on August 2, 1985. 
  • EPHS is the only school in the EPISD that has its graduation ceremonies on their campus.  The Alumni Association requested the move to kick off the Diamond Jubilee in 1991.  Thanks to Mario Reyes and former principal, Luis Cortes, the ceremonies have stayed here in R.R. Jones Stadium ever since.
  • There were twelve design plans submitted for the renovation of R.R. Jones Stadium, the one that was chosen was the original design with handicap accessibility. 
  • In 1993 the EPISD called a meeting with the Class of 1994.  The stadium renovation was set to begin and the class was given two options.  They could keep the use of the stadium until the end of the football and soccer season but they would have to give up graduation ceremonies in R.R. Jones or they could sacrifice all of the home games during the football season and soccer seasons and Eve of the ‘E’ would be held at UTEP’s Kidd Field, but construction would begin in the summer and was guaranteed to finish in time for graduation.  The vote was unanimous; they gave up the football and soccer season in order to enjoy their graduation ceremonies on campus.
  • When the class of 1994 gave up the football season, every football game became an away game which meant even homecoming wasn’t played in R.R. Jones.  All games that season were played at Bowie, Burges or Austin High.  The principal at El Paso High, Mr. Luis Sanchez, called the principal at Austin and suggested we have a dual homecoming. The two principals made it work and moved the game to Saturday afternoon at 2 pm at Austin High School.  We even had a parade from El Paso High to Austin.  We had a double homecoming presentation with convertibles driving around the field.  In fact when the final whistle blew and El Paso High had won, we thought it had worked and was a great success until the two teams started to fight in the middle of the field. Since everyone had been cautious, there were plenty of police and security so it was short lived.
  • Several scenes for the 2006 film Glory Road depicting the national championship title run of the 1966 Texas Western Miners were shot on the EPHS campus. 
  • On November 27, 2009 the EPHS Alumni Association launched their official Facebook site and after several hundred fans joined on February 25, 2010 they launched their official website.