u/TheTexanLife

Found this amazing old photo/postcard of people crowding around to watch alligators being fed in San Jacinto Plaza.

For broader city context, here’s a readable background piece on El Paso history from Texas Happens: History of El Paso, Texas: From Paso del Norte to a Modern Border City.

A few wild facts/background points:

• The image is cataloged as a 1912 postcard called “Feeding the Alligators, El Paso, Texas.”
• It shows a crowd at the Alligator Pool in San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso.
• El Paso really did keep live alligators in the plaza starting in the 1880s/1889 era, even though this is the Chihuahuan Desert.
• The plaza became so associated with them that people called it “La Plaza de los Lagartos” (“Alligator Plaza”).
• This wasn’t just a weird one-off moment — there were multiple postcards made of the alligator pond, so it was clearly a genuine local attraction.
• The gators became such a part of local culture that UTEP’s “Gator Camp” tradition traces back to students pranking the campus with alligators borrowed from the plaza.
• The live alligators are long gone, but the site is still marked by Luis Jiménez’s Los Lagartos sculpture downtown.

Honestly, this is one of those photos that sounds fake until you realize it’s just normal El Paso history: a desert border city, a downtown plaza, and a bunch of people casually watching gators get fed.

Best part is the crowd size — this really feels like the kind of attraction people would bring out-of-town visitors to see.

If anyone here knows more about the exact date of the image or the feeding routine at the plaza, I’d love the added context.

CORNERSVILLE, TN — Saying the nation’s interstate system has gone too long without a roadside attraction possessing “true scale, warmth, and historically significant upper-half volume,” Dolly Parton announced Tuesday that her new Tennessee travel stop would be “bigger and better” than competitors in the same way she herself has long dominated the American landscape.

Read more about the amazing Buc-ee's story here.

According to early reports, Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop will feature expanded amenities, regional food, retail offerings, and a physical footprint so prominent that passing motorists are expected to slow down instinctively, glance over in admiration, and say, “Well, that is a whole lot of Dolly.”

“America deserves a travel center with more presence,” Parton said, standing in front of renderings that appeared to strain tastefully against the limits of the page. “People are tired of pulling over for places with no curves, no charm, and nothing memorable up front.”

Industry analysts confirmed the new location appears to be modeled on Dolly’s personal brand: immaculately maintained, aggressively Southern, and substantially more top-heavy than the competition.

“For years, roadside chains have operated under the mistaken assumption that square footage alone is enough,” said retail consultant Marla Beck, adding that Parton seems to understand Americans prefer establishments with “a little more shape to them.” “This isn’t just about size. This is about profile. Symmetry. Lift. The kind of abundance that lets a traveler see it from a great distance and immediately trust they’ll be taken care of.”

At press time, transportation officials had not yet determined whether the structure would qualify as a commercial business or simply as one more enormous Dolly Parton landmark visible from orbit.

Visitors familiar with the concept said the location would likely include oversized gift sections, indulgent food counters, and a frontage area so impressively built-out that several men interviewed for this story had already begun insisting they were interested “mainly in the layout.”

“I’m just saying, when Dolly says she’s opening something bigger and better, you believe her,” said local resident Brent Wilkes, who then paused for several seconds before adding, “She has a reputation for delivering a lot more than people expect.” Wilkes later clarified that he was referring to the overall hospitality concept, though not in a way that convinced anyone.

Sources close to the project said Dolly wanted to create a travel stop that felt distinctly hers: warm, polished, generously proportioned, and impossible to ignore even when common decency suggests you should stop staring.

“She’s not entering this market with some flat little operation,” said one source who asked to remain anonymous because he had already embarrassed himself enough during the interview. “This thing is going to be full. It’s going to be rich. It’s going to be elevated. Frankly, if you’ve followed Dolly’s career at all, you know understatement was never really on the table.”

Competing chains were reportedly alarmed by the announcement, with executives privately acknowledging that while they could match Parton on fuel pumps and restroom cleanliness, they were less confident in their ability to compete with a brand built on decades of cheerful excess and famously formidable frontage.

“Buc-ee’s has a beaver,” said branding expert Dana Pell. “Dolly Parton has spent 60 years proving that America will always pull over for a larger, shinier, more generously equipped spectacle.”

Employees at neighboring travel centers confirmed they were already being asked whether their own facilities planned to become “more Dolly-sized,” a phrase several managers said they understood immediately and resented deeply.

The new travel stop is also expected to sell food items reflecting Parton’s image, including biscuits described as “fluffy but substantial,” cinnamon rolls with “remarkable rise,” and a line of desserts one focus group reportedly called “almost distractingly full.”

Meanwhile, regional drivers expressed support for the opening, noting that the interstate has long needed a stop with more comfort, more personality, and a chesty sort of grandeur rarely seen outside country music iconography.

“Look, nobody wants to admit it, but when you’re barreling down the highway, you don’t remember the flat, modest places,” said trucker Leon Maddox. “You remember the ones with some size. Some shape. Some real welcoming bulk. Dolly understands that better than anybody.”

At press time, experts predicted the travel stop’s grand opening would draw thousands of visitors, many of whom were already rehearsing explanations to their wives about why they suddenly felt compelled to make a detour through Cornersville.