El Paso Urban Legends

[lipbalm]

Originally Posted by Chicano915

Do you know what Urban Legend is??

Yes. Do you know what sarcasm is?

[joqua]

Originally Posted by atrabilius

How about all the stories surrounding this house on Piedmont owned by a couple (named Patterson?) who sometime in the 1960s(?)...some say they just decided to disappear, and their house was supposed to be haunted.

The Patterson story is a real unsolved mystery that occasionally re-surfaces in the news on the anniversary date of their disappearance, or for other reasons. But the house itself has never figured prominently in paranormal or other ways, TMK. They owned a going photography business on the north side of the downtown plaza at the time of the disappearance and it was left in the hands of one of their employees, who was long suspected of playing some role in their fate.

IOWs - the Patterson story is NOT an "urban legend" but fact.

But there is another house located at the opposite end of Piedmont that has long been a magnet for teens bent on creating mischief. The reasons for the house attracting unwarranted attention IS in the realm of "urban legends."

The people who originally built the residence and lived there for many years were members of a weird religious cult that met regularly at the house. (Possibly IAMers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity) In subsequent years, they were taunted endlessly by teenagers curious (at best) about them. After the husband passed away, the woman kept herself armed and wasn't reluctant to face off against the trespassers.

Oddly, the taunting/haunting/vandalism has continued for several generations of teens by now. There have been numerous articles in the El Paso papers about incidents and police reports and drug/alcohol arrests, etc.

Here is but one person's account of experiences with this residence:

http://www.lostdestinations.com/piedmont.htm

The original owners kept to themselves and no one in the neighborhood knew them other than to see them driving by in their 1930s style coupe, the lady always with her hair wrapped in a turbine. They were harmless folk who never deserved the treatment they suffered, nor the subsequent owners after them.

[atrabilius]

Yes, the Pattersons really existed, and they really disappeared; I was talking about the stories about what happened to them.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by joqua

The Patterson story is a real unsolved mystery that occasionally re-surfaces in the news on the anniversary date of their disappearance, or for other reasons. But the house itself has never figured prominently in paranormal or other ways, TMK. They owned a going photography business on the north side of the downtown plaza at the time of the disappearance and it was left in the hands of one of their employees, who was long suspected of playing some role in their fate.

IOWs - the Patterson story is NOT an "urban legend" but fact.

But there is another house located at the opposite end of Piedmont that has long been a magnet for teens bent on creating mischief. The reasons for the house attracting unwarranted attention IS in the realm of "urban legends."

The people who originally built the residence and lived there for many years were members of a weird religious cult that met regularly at the house. (Possibly IAMers - "I AM" Activity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) In subsequent years, they were taunted endlessly by teenagers curious (at best) about them. After the husband passed away, the woman kept herself armed and wasn't reluctant to face off against the trespassers.

Oddly, the taunting/haunting/vandalism has continued for several generations of teens by now. There have been numerous articles in the El Paso papers about incidents and police reports and drug/alcohol arrests, etc.

Here is but one person's account of experiences with this residence:

http://www.lostdestinations.com/piedmont.htm

The original owners kept to themselves and no one in the neighborhood knew them other than to see them driving by in their 1930s style coupe, the lady always with her hair wrapped in a turbine. They were harmless folk who never deserved the treatment they suffered, nor the subsequent owners after them.

Cool looking house -- is it sitting empty now or is it inhabitated?

[katzpaw]

Piedmont house: piedmont st, el paso, tx

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by katzpaw

Piedmont house: piedmont st, el paso, tx

I wonder if the mailman/woman like delivering mail there?

[katzpaw]

Originally Posted by katzpaw

Piedmont house: piedmont st, el paso, tx

Swing around on Street View. The road has been blocked with a barrier making it a dead end and harder for drive-by vandals and gawkers.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by katzpaw

Swing around on Street View. The road has been blocked with a barrier making it a dead end and harder for drive-by vandals and gawkers.

The street has ALWAYS dead-ended just past the house. It is city property and there is a reservoir (water tank) beyond the barricade. The house dates to the 1930s and until new development began in the 1950s, the house was the only thing on the dead end. Now the streets in the newer development provide 2 added accesses to the cul de sac where the house sits besides the original access from Mesita.

The barricade across San Mateo is a result of continued complaints by neighbors who tired of the parade of late night mischief makers. It now allows police to "trap" those who still cause trouble for the homeowners there.

Why it continues to draw vandals and looky-loos is beyond me, but the fact remains that it is an unusual architectural style using native rocks, but it's not an isolated case of rock houses in that neighborhood. There are many rock homes and several that are unique looking. The current look of the house is more refined with all the added rock wall work and additions to the original structure, which was quite small by comparison to its size today.