Albert Fall Mansion
The two-story Classical Revival mansion was home to Kentucky-born Albert Bacon Fall (1861-1944). He gained notoriety as a circuit judge in the New Mexico Territory and served as the new state’s first elected senator from 1912-1921, where he was recognized as an expert in U.S.-Mexico affairs. Appointed as the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, he served from 1921-1923 and was convicted of accepting a bribe during the Teapot Dome scandal. The house is significant because of the connection to Fall’s life, and its age and architectural design. The Fall mansion was included on Preservation Texas’s 2004 MEP list because it was threatened by neglect.
UPDATE: Community organizations including the Historic Landmark Commission of the City of El Paso, El Paso Preservation Alliance and the El Paso County Historical Commission worked with the City’s Historic Preservation Officer and kept the community’s attention on the structure. As a result, the City of El Paso acquired the house by eminent domain, buying the property from the owner. The house will be leased for use by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-El Paso. It is a great example of community collaboration using an ordinance as intended to save a significant property.
The Albert Fall Mansion was included on Preservation Texas’s tenth anniversary retrospective list of Texas’ Most Endangered Historic Places in 2013, and it was designated a saved site.
ADDRESS: 1725 Arizona Avenue, El Paso (El Paso County)
DESIGNATION: None
STATUS: Saved!
OWNER: City of El Paso
RESOURCE TYPE: Residence
YEAR LISTED: 2004, 2013
