Kern Place

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Kern Place is an historic neighborhood noted to be the first suburb community built in El Paso, Texas. The neighborhood lies just east of the University of Texas at El Paso, and north of Downtown.

History

Kern Place was founded by Peter Kern, for whom the neighborhood was named. Kern was a promoter, a businessman, a philosopher and a traveler. Kern first came to El Paso in 1881 when he was in his early twenties. He saw El Paso as a growing city with great potential in the newly arrived railroad. He began a jewelry store that became quite successful in a town of saloons, brothels and gambling houses.

While in the jewelry business, Kern began to purchase a considerable amount of land around El Paso, including an undeveloped Northwest mesa of sandy hills. While Kern enjoyed great success early on, within 10 years of arriving in El Paso, he lost his once successful jewelry business, and then his wife and daughter abandoned him. Bankrupt and alone, Kern packed his belongings and headed to the gold rush in Alaska. There, he opened another jewelry store and profited well.

With $50,000 in cash, Kern returned to El Paso to find that his property had cleared his financial obligations during his absence. He had lost everything but the sandy-hilled mesa, which had become more valuable over the 10 years he was in Alaska. With no other purpose, Kern designed a plan for what would be known as Kern Place.

Kern looked to W. I. Rider, an engineer originally from Rochester, New York, to develop the plans for the subdivision in 1914. Construction began on November 21, 1914. Earliest construction began on Cincinnati Street, and by 1917 about 40 homes had been built. Though urban today, when Kern Place was built, it was on the edge of the desert and was well removed from the populated areas of El Paso. Twenty years later, Rider visited Kern Place and stated that he was not happy with the layout of the streets, and "had he then foreseen the universal use of the automobile, he would never have curved the streets" which he considered "dangerous."

In 1924, Kern's daughter Madeline returned to El Paso. Not only did she discover that Madeline Drive and Madeline Park were named for her but that her father's fortune had been restored. Shortly thereafter, Madeline went to court on behalf of her mother to have Kern Place designated community property.

Madeline obtained a judgement that ultimately caused problems with property titles for some Kern Place land, and legal woes spun her father once again into bankruptcy. Madeline sued her father, two banks and many of the residents for rent. Those who were being sued in turn sued Peter Kern for fraud, and the first day's lawsuits filed totaled $1,610,000.

Although Madeline's claims were found to be groundless, the resulting legal fees were too much for Kern. According to a 1956 El Paso Times article, "One of the banks took over, making a contract with Mr. Kern to allow him to sell off what land was still considered his, making him an allowance as long as practicable of $100 a month on which he lived for a while." But soon the demand for land in Kern had diminished, and Kern's remaining assets rapidly disappeared.

By 1930, Kern was penniless. Ironically, he found work in the neighborhood he had created. He worked as a gardener in Kern Place, earning $0.30 an hour. He had never lived in his own development. Although he made one last attempt to regain his fortune with a development on nearby Krazy Kat Mountain, funding fell short, and the project was never fully realized during his lifetime.

In 1932, Kern moved to Arlington, Texas, retiring at the Home for Aged Masons. He was taking his customary morning walk along the railroad tracks and failed to hear the approaching train that struck him from behind and killed him on February 8, 1937, at age 80. He was survived by a sister and his daughter Madeline.

The Kern Place Gate

Much like the Hollywood sign, a monument was built to enhance home sales in the new neighborhood. In 1916, Kern constructed a gate that formed an archway to the entrance of the neighborhood at the intersection of North Kansas Street and Robinson. At Kern's insistence, the arch was built by workmen who were descendants of the Toltecs of Mexico. The gate was one of the most interesting personal touches that Kern contributed to Kern Place. Kern designed the gate himself and called it a "monument to Lady Luck".

It consisted of two rock and mortar pillars bounded on top by intricate designs and elaborate symbols representing Kern's love of mysticism and the engraver's frills and scrolls covered the arch. The iron gate contained swastikas (an ancient symbol found in the Anasazi Indian culture and many others) and sauvastikas, a zodiac calendar, an array of other ancient symbols, the Kern family crest and 444 electric light globes that illuminated the words "Kern Place" over the center of the gate.

The Kern Place Gate remained lit for about two years before residents in the area complained about the bright lights at night. Eventually, the entire gate was dismantled in 1954 during a street-widening project.

Mysticism

In August 1999, in an attempt to promote sales of his Holy Wood album, musician Marilyn Manson, apparently fascinated by its architecture, contrived an urban legend surrounding the Kern Place gate calling it a "gateway to death." Manson founds his mythology in a letter to fans written at the conclusion of the Rock Is Dead world tour, he bluntly outlines a connection between Peter Kern, the occult, Freemasonry, and the death of John F. Kennedy. The letter is concluded with "This is merely a mystical and bizarre piece of architecture I discovered on my quest for knowledge. If you look deeper, you will see its connection to Adam Kadmon as well."

The letter birthed a slew of online blogs in obscure speculation over the monument. Further connections have ruminated between the gate and a book titled "King Kill 33°" for which the 18th track of the Holy Wood album is named.

Notable Residences

The homes of Kern Place are unique in design as compared to other parts of town. Some of the homes were built by the residents themselves. One of the better known domiciles is Paul Luckett Home located at 1201 Cincinnati Ave. above Madeline Park. The house is made of rock gathered from the area, and affectionately known as "The Castle" due to its round walls and a crenulated rooftop.

Like today, there were many well-known citizens who resided in Kern Place. The house at 711 Cincinnati Ave. was originally built for Richard M. Dudley, who was El Paso's mayor from 1923 to 1925. Several owners later, Mrs. Robert Thompson Hoover deeded the property to the University of Texas at El Paso in 1965. Today, the elegant Hoover House continues to serve as the residence of the University president, Diana Natalicio.

Today

Kern Place is extremely popular with college and university students. The area is known for its glitzy entertainment district, restaurants and coffee shops who cater to both business patrons and university students. After UTEP's basketball and football games, UTEP fans pack the Kern Place area for food and entertainment.

Kern Place contains Cincinnati Street a small bar district, with bars including Hemingway's, Crawdaddy's, GeoGeske (G2), Cincinnati Street Bar, Loft Bar, Mini Bar, Marco Polo Dive Bar, and Kern Place Cigars, a cigar shop. Also considered part of the "Cinci" nightlife district are several businesses on the opposite side of Mesa St. including Mesa St. Bar and Grill, Black Market, No Fish and The Palomino. The cross-street is Mesa located directly across from the University of Texas at El Paso. This bar scene has grown over the years and has attracted thousands to its annual Mardi Gras block party as well as after sporting events or concerts. This environment has a mix of what a big city bar scene should provide except it's scaled down. Young men and women make up the majority of the crowds who stop in between classes or after work. Weekends fill the parking lots and sidewalks.

The only visible blemish on this idyllic neighborhood is the discovery of elevated levels of lead and arsenic in some yards and properties. Since its discovery, local Texas Senate representative Eliot Shapleigh has fought diligently against the re-opening of the Asarco smelter believed to be the cause of the contamination.

External Links & References

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