Get on the list
By Wendy White Polk | 
Quick, answer these questions: What’s the oldest law firm in El Paso? Which came first, the fire department or the water company?
If you answered correctly, you are a student of El Paso’s rich history and heritage. If not, you ought to be.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that a community’s history is part and parcel of its future.
That’s one reason behind the lists we run in our Border Business section. They transcend business to tell us that International Business College was founded in 1898, before anyone knew what an administrative assistant was; in 1921, Hector Mora had the business acumen to found a customs brokerage firm; and Jack Guynes started Guynes Printing in 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression.
The lists also look into the future with info on companies like DataXport, founded in 2003 by Jorge and Beatriz Fernandez. They offer services including electronic storage of digital documents.
Of course, the business reason to run a list is to have other businesses need it and buy it. If you’re marketing to storage facilities, check out our April 20 list. If you need mailing services, look into next week’s list.
But one of out most fascinating lists is coming up May 25: El Paso’s oldest companies. It’s always fun, reminding us, for example, that Asarco was founded in 1887, when it was way, way, way out of town in an appropriate location for a copper smelter.
Over the years, there’s been much interest in our oldest companies list – as well as sometimes “energetic” discussions about what constitutes “oldest” and “company.”
Which is why we need your help with our May 25 list.
Let us know about your company if it was founded before the 1950s and if it still exists in its essentially original form.
Send us info by May 12, including when, where and by whom it was founded, as well as who runs it now, to lists coordinator Christy Allen at lists@elpasoinc.com.
Now, answers to the earlier questions: Kemp Smith, 1881; fire department, 1882, water company, 1890.
And just for fun: Who defended John Selman after he shot and killed John Wesley Hardin at the Acme Saloon in 1895? Wyndham Kemp of Kemp Smith.
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail news@elpasoinc.com
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