Live in Thomas Manor
A Lower Valley grid of 1959 to 1971 plats between Alameda Avenue and the Border Highway, where Ysleta ISD's homestead exemption leaves a house near the ZIP's typical value owing almost no school tax, and where FEMA maps about a sixth of the ground in its 1% flood zone.
The City of El Paso annexed this part of the Lower Valley on 15 March 1955, and Thomas Manor's eleven numbered plats followed between 1959 and 1971, on ground that had been farm tracts such as the Christy Tract of 1909. This guide takes the City's Thomas Manor neighborhood as its boundary, 726 acres where the 2020 census counted 5,820 residents, down from 6,717 on about the same ground in 2010, and owners lived in 66% of the occupied homes, more of them free and clear than with a mortgage. Zillow's typical value for ZIP code 79915, which holds every resident, was $175,225 in August 2026, up 3.7% on the year, but the ZIP holds six times as many people and is not a Thomas Manor price. No City historic district reaches it, and every block is in Ysleta ISD.
A 1960s grid laid on valley farm tracts, between Alameda Avenue and the river highway
The City of El Paso's Thomas Manor neighborhood (FID 90 on the Neighborhood Boundaries layer), about 726 acres, traced against the Census Bureau's road file: Alameda Avenue (State Highway 20) on the northeast, from South Yarbrough Drive to Midway Drive; Midway Drive and Hockney Street on the northwest; the Border Highway (Loop 375) on the southwest, with the Rio Grande about 130 meters beyond it at the nearest point; and South Yarbrough Drive on the southeast. The Thomas Manor Neighborhood Association, registered with the City on 21 April 2004, files essentially the same area. All of it is in El Paso County and Ysleta ISD, and the reference point is in City Council District 7, with 1,238 of the residents in District 3.
Thomas Manor was farmland first. The City's plat map still shows the Christy Tract of 1909 under about a seventh of the ground. The City annexed this stretch of the Lower Valley on 15 March 1955, and the eleven Thomas Manor units followed between 1959 and 1971, covering about 38% of the neighborhood. This guide takes the City's Thomas Manor neighborhood as its line: 726 acres between Alameda Avenue and the Border Highway, from Yarbrough Drive to Midway Drive, where the 2020 census counted 5,820 residents.
The higher school rate comes with a lower homestead bill. Every block is in Ysleta ISD, so an address pays 2.763493 per $100 for 2025, against 2.643693 with El Paso ISD. But Ysleta ISD takes 20% off a homestead on top of the state's $140,000, which together cover the whole value of a house up to $175,000. Zillow's typical value for ZIP code 79915 was $175,225 in August 2026, up 3.7% on the year, so a homestead there owes the school district about $2 and about $2,680 a year in all, against $3,059 with El Paso ISD and $4,842 as a rental. At the county's $280,615 median sale price it is about $5,339. The ZIP holds six times the neighborhood's people and is not a Thomas Manor price; the El Paso ISD arithmetic is on the El Paso page.
About a sixth of the ground is in FEMA's flood zone, on both maps. This is one of the few parts of El Paso with a digital effective map: the panels of 16 February 2006 put 15.8% of the neighborhood in the 1% annual chance zone, with 1,031 residents. The preliminary map of August 2025, not yet in force, puts 15.4% and 911 residents in it and shows another 59.8% as reduced risk behind a levee. The water runs by drain: FEMA's profiles follow the Playa Drain and the Mesa Drain, with the Rio Grande past the Border Highway. In 2018 El Paso Water rebuilt the pond and pump station in Thomas Manor Park, adding nearly 11.5 million gallons of storage. The Weather Service's account of the 2006 storms does not name this neighborhood, and this guide found no record of them here.
Settled, and getting smaller. Owners lived in 66% of the occupied homes in 2020, and more owned free and clear (776) than with a mortgage (608). The count fell from 6,717 in 2010 to 5,820 while the number of homes barely moved. The neighborhood is also inside El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1, which assessed $30 an acre for 2025 on land holding a water right, billed separately and owed whether or not water comes. Which lots hold one was not checked, so an address may carry it.
Daily life runs along Alameda and Yarbrough. Route 67 crosses on Knights Drive about hourly, and the nearest Alameda Brio stop is about a kilometer past the northern corner, every 20 to 25 minutes on weekdays. Centro San Vicente's main clinic is on Alameda at the edge; the nearest emergency department is Del Sol Medical Center, about 5 km north, and the Ysleta-Zaragoza bridge is about 9 km by road.
- Look up the address on FEMA's effective panel and on the preliminary map, and price a flood policy either way
- File for the homestead exemption with the El Paso Central Appraisal District; Ysleta ISD's 20% applies only to a homestead
- Ask the seller whether the lot carries an irrigation district water right and its assessment
- Run the address through Ysleta ISD's SchoolSearch and confirm the result with the district
How Thomas Manor got here
- 1909The Christy Tract is recorded; on the City's subdivisions layer it is still the largest single plat inside today's neighborhood, about 14% of the ground.
- 1947The San Jose and San Jose Park plats are recorded along what became San Jose Road, the name the federal place-name file still gives this corner of the valley.
- 1955On 15 March the City annexes 21,096 acres of the Lower Valley by Ordinance 1285, every part of this neighborhood among them. The City's layer dates Thomas Manor #6 to the same year.
- 1959Thomas Manor #1 is recorded. Units 2 to 11 follow through 1971, and together the Thomas Manor plats cover about 38% of the neighborhood.
- 1969Riverside High School opens on Midway Drive, at the neighborhood's northwest edge.
- 2004The Thomas Manor Neighborhood Association registers with the City on 21 April.
- 2006FEMA's flood panels for the City take effect on 16 February; they put 15.8% of the neighborhood in the 1% annual chance zone. That summer a year's rain falls on El Paso in two days.
- 2010The census counts 6,717 residents on about the same ground.
- 2018On 8 March El Paso Water breaks ground on a $5.6 million project at Thomas Manor Park that relocates the stormwater pond, rehabilitates the pump station and adds nearly 11.5 million gallons of capacity, with the City and Ysleta ISD sharing the park work.
- 2020The census counts 5,820 residents and 2,244 homes; owners live in 1,384 of the 2,105 occupied homes.
- 2025FEMA issues its preliminary countywide map on 8 August: 15.4% of the neighborhood in the 1% zone and 59.8% shown as reduced risk behind a levee. It is not yet in force.
A park built around a flood pond, and the county's lake a few minutes north
Thomas Manor Park is 12.4 acres beside the elementary school, with courts, a playground and a trail around the stormwater pond. El Paso County's Ascarate Park, about 6 km by road, has a 48-acre lake, and the City's Rio Bosque Wetlands Park lies downriver.
What the map does not show: the pond is the point. The low ground in the park is there to hold stormwater after a monsoon storm, and parts of it are meant to fill.
Elsewhere in El Paso, not Thomas Manor
23 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 23 places, nearest first.
Method: distances are straight lines from the population-weighted center of the neighborhood's 2020 census blocks, multiplied by a road factor, with a tiered speed model for the drive: honest ranges, not routed times.
Every gym within reach
The nearest City centers are the Officer David Ortiz Recreation Center, with a boxing ring and a weight room, and the Valle Bajo Community Center on Alameda. The nearest open City pool is the indoor Therapeutic & Instructional Aquatic Center.
- Officer David Ortiz Recreation Center: about 2.6 km, closed Sunday
- Valle Bajo Community Center: about 2.8 km, with the library
- Therapeutic & Instructional Aquatic Center: about 7 km, mornings only
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Officer David Ortiz Recreation Center open | The City's recreation center at 563 North Carolina Drive, long called Carolina: a basketball gym, a boxing ring, a weight room and classes. Open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. | 6–8 min |
| Valle Bajo Community Center open | The City's community center at 7380 Alameda Avenue, with the library branch inside: a large gym, pickleball and volleyball courts, a dance studio, a weight room and showers, on the same hours as Ortiz. | 6–9 min |
| Therapeutic & Instructional Aquatic Center open | The nearest City pool open now, at 9031 Viscount Boulevard: an indoor, warm-water therapeutic pool, open 6 to 9 a.m. Monday to Thursday and 6 to 11 a.m. on Friday, with water aerobics; $3 for adults and $2 for children and seniors 60 and over. | 10–15 min |
| Fred and Maria Loya Family YMCA open | The nearer of the YMCA of El Paso's two branches, at 2044 Trawood Drive on the east side. | 11–16 min |
| Thomas Manor Park open | The free option: tennis and basketball courts and the walking trail around the stormwater pond, inside the neighborhood. | 2–4 min |
The free option is Thomas Manor Park's courts and the trail around the pond, inside the neighborhood.
One elementary, one middle and one high school for every block
Every block is in the Ysleta Independent School District, and its SchoolSearch returns the same three schools for every populated block: Thomas Manor Elementary on Jersey Street, inside the neighborhood, rated C (79) for 2026; Riverside Middle on Mimosa Avenue, B (87); and Riverside High School on Midway Drive, A (91), open since 1969.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Manor Elementary School | Ysleta Independent School District | 7900 Jersey Street, early education to grade 5, inside the neighborhood. Ysleta ISD's SchoolSearch returns it for the reference point and for every populated block; the app states no school year. The Texas Education Agency rated it C, 79, for 2026 after B, 82, for 2025. |
| Riverside Middle School | Ysleta Independent School District | 7615 Mimosa Avenue, grades 6 to 8, returned for every populated block. Rated B, 87, for 2026 and B, 82, for 2025. |
| Riverside High School | Ysleta Independent School District | 301 Midway Drive, grades 9 to 12, open since 1969 and returned for every populated block. Rated A, 91, for 2026 and for 2025. SchoolSearch says its results do not guarantee placement, so confirm an address with the district. |
Run your own address. SchoolSearch states no school year and says its results do not guarantee placement. Ysleta ISD said in 2025 that it was weighing the closure of low-enrollment schools to cover a budget deficit, so ask whether a campus serving the address is among them.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- The El Paso Central Appraisal District values every property as of 1 January; last year's tax bill is due by 31 January
- Highs near 15 °C and lows near 1 °C at El Paso International, with about 14 nights at or below freezing on the 1991 to 2020 normal
- Penalty and interest start on unpaid tax bills on 1 February
- Highs near 18 °C and about 10 mm of rain; dust events can start this early, El Paso Matters reports
- The windy season peaks from March to April; there were 36 dust events from February to June of 2025
- Highs near 22 °C and about 6 mm of rain
- About 4 mm of rain, the driest month on the normal, and highs near 27 °C
- The appraisal review board begins hearing protests around 15 May, so read the notice of value as soon as it comes
- 15 May, or 30 days after the notice is mailed if that is later, is the deadline to protest a value
- Highs near 32 °C, with about 16 days reaching 32 °C (90 °F)
- Highs near 36 °C, the hottest month by afternoon high, with about 11 days reaching 38 °C (100 °F)
- About 19 mm of rain as the monsoon gathers
- The summer monsoon: about 40 mm of rain, often in short, heavy storms; El Paso Water warns a year's rain can fall in days
- Highs near 35 °C and the warmest nights, near 23 °C
- About 42 mm of rain, the wettest month; this is when Thomas Manor Park's pond and pump station earn their keep
- The 2006 storms ran from 27 July to 4 August and pushed the Rio Grande to its highest level since 1912
- About 39 mm of rain, and highs near 31 °C
- July to September bring more than half the year's 223 mm
- Tax bills go out around 1 October for payment by 31 January
- The Amigo Airsho flies at Biggs Army Airfield on 24 and 25 October 2026, and the City's Día de los Muertos festival is downtown on 24 October
- Highs near 26 °C
- Highs near 19 °C and lows near 6 °C, with about five freezing nights
- About 11 mm of rain
- Highs near 14 °C and lows near 1 °C, with about 14 freezing nights and most of the year's 7 cm of snow
- The Sun Bowl is played at UTEP on 31 December 2026
4 more photographs of El Paso and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed El Paso photo library, not photographs of Thomas Manor itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–4 of 4 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared El Paso library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Thomas Manor.