History
The Hoover House was built by Richard M. Dudley, a banker and El Paso mayor, and his wife, Frances. The El Paso Herald described it as “one of the most beautiful homes in El Paso."
1916
Dudley, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, co-authored the bill to fund the construction of the new State School of Mines and Metallurgy (now UTEP) after the original campus was destroyed by fire in 1916.
1930
In 1930, five years after his death, Mrs. Frances Dudley sold the home to Rosario Campo de Fernandez Blanco and her husband Tomas F. Blanco, a wealthy brewer from Mexico.
1939
Nine years later, the Internal Revenue Service took possession of the home for nonpayment of taxes.
1944
Robert Thompson Hoover, a prominent local cotton merchant, purchased it in 1944 for $14,000. His widow, Mrs. Louisiana Hoover, donated the house to the University in 1965.
1965 - present
At their meeting on July 17, 1965, the Board of Regents, on the recommendation of Texas Western College President Joseph Ray, designated the home “Hoover House” in honor of the Hoover family. Ray was the first University president to live in the home, residing there with his wife, Jettie H. Ray, from 1965 to 1968. Other residents have included President Joseph R. Smiley and Mary E. Smiley (1969-72); President Arleigh B. Templeton and Maxie Templeton (1972-80); President Haskell Monroe Jr. and Margaret Joann “Jo” Monroe (1980-87); and President Emerita Diana Natalicio (1988-2019). President Heather Wilson moved into the Hoover House in 2019.