Socorro receives $50,000 grant for historic resources survey

A $50,000 Texas Historical Commission grant will fund a two-year update of Socorro’s historic resources inventory. The project will survey the Mission Trail Historic District and about 250 properties.

The Texas Historical Commission has approved a $50,000 grant for a project to update Socorro’s historic resources inventory, which has not been updated since 1995.

The grant was awarded to the City of Socorro Community Initiative nonprofit through the Texas Preservation Trust Fund program. The nonprofit is partnering with the City of Socorro on the two-year Socorro Historic Resources Survey project.

The project will include an updated survey of the Mission Trail Historic District and approximately 250 historic properties across the city. The results will support National Register eligibility assessments, preservation planning, zoning protections and a GIS-based historic resource database.

Socorro’s historic resources include the Socorro Mission, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the National Historic Landmark Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center. The project partners said the inventory update will help address threats including development, demolition and deterioration.

The grant agreement is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. After that, the City of Socorro Community Initiative will begin work with the city’s Historic Preservation Office and Architectural Heritage Consultants.