A toast to Trost

Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series.

By Eric Liefeld

For the Bulletin

For the first third of the 20th century, the acclaimed El Paso architectural firm of Trost & Trost designed most of the important buildings in the southwest— and many of the important buildings in the Mesilla Valley. Visionary designer Henry C. Trost was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, and both were influenced by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, who is often referred to as the spiritual father of American architecture. Trost & Trost had an outsized impact on the architecture of the southwest, with many influences visible in our modern buildings today. Unfortunately, most of the firm’s records were lost, and while some communities have capitalized on their Trost & Trost architectural heritage, many buildings designed by the firm in the Mesilla Valley have remained obscure or have been lost to demolition.

Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc. (MVP) has been researching both surviving and lost Trost & Trost architecture seeking proof of attribution. In just a few years, MVP has literally doubled the known list of Trost & Trost buildings in the Mesilla Valley.

Born in 1860 in Toledo, Ohio, Trost worked with several architectural firms in Kansas and Colorado, spending influential time in Chicago between 1888 and 1896 when the city was undergoing tremendous growth and rebuilding after the great fire of 1871. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1899, where many distinctive structures bear his name.

He moved to El Paso in 1903 to join his brothers Gustavus and Adolphus and his nephew George to form Trost & Trost. Their timing could not have been better. El Paso was booming, and Trost & Trost rapidly helped transform the sleepy adobe town with reinforced concrete skyscrapers to support new business activity. New Mexico was near the end of its long quest for statehood, and every community (no matter how small) had to erect schools to demonstrate that the state was properly educating its children. Every school needed an architect to draw up plans, and often manage the construction process itself.

Unlike many architects who stayed within a single recognizable style, Trost was at home in diverse architectural styles popular at the time. For this reason, his designs can sometimes be difficult to recognize. Trost & Trost designed everything from brick and reinforced concrete skyscrapers and hotels, to comfortable homes, schools, and other private and municipal buildings. He was also one of the first green designers, building in what he called his “Arid Southwest” design aesthetic to make the best of the southwestern climate. As a symbol of his versatility, Trost designed several Mesilla Valley buildings from the native adobe. Trost & Trost single-handedly established the look of the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now NMSU) and the Texas College of Mines (now UTEP). To this day much of the firm’s iconic architecture still defines the downtown El Paso skyline.