El Paso: Lurid Lagartos

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

I'm afraid I'm not fond of the alligators in downtown El Paso. They lurk in the middle of the downtown plaza that some call the Plaza de los Lagartos (alligators) and some call San Jacinto Plaza. I prefer the latter name.

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

They remind me of the godawful "art" at the entrance to an amusement park in Tbilisi, atop Mtatsminda. I took some shit for decrying the grotesqueness of the "art,"  but I stand by my verdict.

Mtatsminda, Tbilisi, Caucasus Georgia.

There was a time when real, live alligators were kept at the Plaza, beginning in the late 1800s and ending in the 1960s. There's even a Louisiana connection, with the arrival of "Jack and Jill, a pair who arrived in a cigar box from Louisiana."

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The fact was, however, that the alligators suffered regular indignities, not to mention cruelties and even death, at the hands of visitors.

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Here's a photo of a vintage El Paso postcard, showing the live alligators in the plaza:

Postcard of live alligators in San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. Postcard photographed by Red Oak Kid.

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Maybe I wouldn't find the durn things so objectionable if the colored lights didn't shout so loudly.

Lagarto sculpture, San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.