Mills Building. This structure stands on the site of the 1827 Jose Maria Ponce de Leon Ranch. Anson Mills (1834-1924), who came to El Paso in 1858, acquired part interest in the property in 1859. Mills served as district surveyor until 1860. At the start of the Civil War, the Indiana-born Mills left El Paso and joined the Union Army. He remained in the army after the war and attained the rank of Brigadier General before he retired. Mills maintained his business interests in El Paso and for a time was stationed at Fort Bliss. In 1883 Mills and Judge J. F. Crosby erected the Grand Central Hotel at this location. Fire destroyed the hotel in 1896. Three years later Mills bought his partner's interest and began construction of a two-story hotel and mercantile building here. He razed that edifice in 1906 to erect this larger office facility. A 12-story reinforced concrete structure, the Mills Building was begun in 1909 and completed in 1915. The plans were drawn by well-known El Paso architects Henry C. and Gustavus Adolphus Trost, who designed numerous structures in the Southwest. Before it was extensively remodeled, the Mills Building exemplified the Sullivanesque commercial style. The Mills family owned the property until 1965. (1979) #3387